Dallas Removes Rainbow and Black Lives Matter Crosswalks
After a directive that was given to the state of Texas by Governor Greg Abbott, the city of Dallas began removing crosswalks honoring the Black Lives Matter movement, along with the LGBTQ+ community. Greg Abbott’s order called for the removal of “political,” non-standard surface markings.
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Many rainbow crosswalks in the historically gay neighborhood of Oak Lawn have already been washed away by early noon on Monday. The Black Lives Matter crosswalk, along with 30 other decorative designs in uptown, have been salted for removal.
In a memo sent last week, the city said standard crosswalks will be installed by April 28.
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Tony Vedda said, “We weren’t prepared to see all of them removed this week. It was a little bit of a shock to us, and the end of a long road.” Tony is the CEO and president of the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce.
Most of the crosswalks painted were not using public funds. Tony’s organization began fundraising in 2019 for this project. He said by 2020 the group gave the city a $128,250 checl to install the crosswalks.
The LGBTQ Chamber raised another $45,000 and had all the crosswalks repainted in 2025, just a few months before Abbott’s order.
The city of Dallas requested an exemption on several of the crosswalks, but the request was denied on January 15th. TxDOT told the city it could lose federal and state project funding if it did not comply.
When asked about the city’s efforts, community activist and owner of Alexandre’s on Cedar Springs, Lee Daugherty, said, “Is there more that could have been done? Absolutely, is it worth pulling out all your guns out and going to battle over thermoplastic on concrete? There could be some bigger battles ahead.”
The office of arts and culture will conduct 3 meetings across the impacted areas to discuss ways for the neighborhoods to express their identities.
Dallas Removes Rainbow and Black Lives Matter Crosswalks was originally published on thebeatdfw.com
