By Edmond Ortiz
A handful of City Council members joined local LGBTQ community members March 29 to celebrate the installation of rainbow sidewalks along a key Tobin Hill neighborhood street. The Pride-themed sidewalks replace rainbow crosswalks that the city was forced to remove to comply with an order from the governor.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the unveiling of rainbow sidewalks along a segment of Main Avenue north of downtown, inside San Antonio’s Pride Cultural Heritage District. The event took place two days before the nationally recognized Transgender Day of Visibility, March 31.
The implementation of Pride-themed sidewalks comes months after Gov. Greg Abbott pledged to cut public funding to cities permitting the presence of rainbow crosswalks or other public road features that bore social, political, or ideological messages. Abbott’s order was based on a directive from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Despite efforts to obtain an exemption from the state to retain its rainbow crosswalks, the city of San Antonio ordered the removal of the crosswalks along North Main. LGBTQ community members, with support from city officials, rallied to back the creation of rainbow sidewalks to replace the loss of the crosswalks. The $170,000 project was funded mostly with private contributions.
The rainbow sidewalk row sparked controversy when an attorney representing the nonprofit Pride San Antonio and a conservative group, Texas Conservative Liberty Forum, an organization that serves some LGBTQ community members, filed a lawsuit against the city.
Pride San Antonio claimed the city was not forthcoming about efforts to preserve the rainbow crosswalks or plans to recommend implementation of rainbow sidewalks. TCLF said the city needed public approval to spend money to install rainbow sidewalks.
District Judge Christine Hortick in January denied a temporary restraining order that would have stopped the crosswalk removal and the sidewalk installation.
Afterward, Pride San Antonio found itself a target of backlash. Many local LGBTQ community members, including the independent group Pride 210, chided Pride San Antonio for aligning itself in a lawsuit with an organization that they deemed adversarial to the community.
The March 29 event featured the members from the city’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Group, business owners in the Pride Cultural Heritage District, neighborhood residents, and three City Council members – Ivalis Meza Gonzalez, Marina Aldrete Gavito, and Sukh Kaur, who represents the area.
Gonzalez said she was pleased the city could install rainbow sidewalks in spite of legal challenges and community tension.
Kaur mentioned that the city will increase collaboration with residents and merchants in the Pride Cultural Heritage District, including plans for public art projects.
Pride 210 representatives have announced an upcoming collaboration with the local convention and visitors organization, Visit San Antonio.
“San Antonio will always be a city for all, and today, our community showed up strong,” Gonzalez said in a social media post following the event.
