A Bexar County judge on Friday denied a lawsuit that sought to temporarily block the City of San Antonio from installing rainbow-themed sidewalk art and removing the rainbow crosswalks in the city’s Pride Cultural Heritage District.

After a preliminary hearing, Judge Christine Vasquez-Hortick of the 225th District Court denied a request from plaintiffs — including Pride San Antonio and the Texas Conservative Liberty Forum — for a temporary restraining order that would have paused the city’s plans.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday, argued the city lacked authority to proceed without additional City Council approval, asserting that Public Works funds may not be used for what plaintiffs described as expressive or artistic projects rather than construction, maintenance or repair.

“If you do not approve the temporary restraining order today, the rainbow crosswalk at Main and Evergreen will be destroyed on Monday,” Attorney Justin P. Nichols, representing the plaintiffs, told the judge. 

City attorneys countered that Public Works is authorized to proceed through appropriations already approved in the FY 2026 budget and through existing task-order contracts, and that no separate council action was required.

City officials also said they must bring the crosswalks into compliance after the Texas Department of Transportation determined the markings do not meet state standards. Failure to act, they said, could put roughly $80 million in transportation funding tied to about 20 projects at risk.

“Everyone in this room might agree that this is a functional crosswalk,” Bonnie Kirkland an attorney retained by the city said. “The state has said it’s not, and we have to bring it into compliance.”

Vasquez-Hortick said she did not find evidence the city violated a statute, ordinance or funding requirement by proceeding under its existing budget authority.

“Based on what I have in front of me today, I don’t see that there was any additional requirement that the City of San Antonio needed to comply with that they did not,” she said. “So I respectfully deny your request.”

In denying the request, Vasquez-Hortick said the court’s role was limited to determining whether the plaintiffs identified a specific legal requirement the city failed to weigh in on the political merits of the situation. 

“This is a political mess that’s been brought into this city,” she said. “But it is not the job of this court or any other court to involve itself in political issues.”

After the ruling, the plaintiffs’ attorney Nichols said he respected the judge’s decision and that it remained to be seen whether his clients would pursue further legal action.

Nichols said the denial of the temporary restraining order does not necessarily end the case, noting plaintiffs could still request a temporary injunction hearing with additional notice. But he acknowledged the timeline may limit those options as the city moves forward with its plans.

City officials welcomed the ruling, saying it allows San Antonio to move forward while balancing state funding requirements and the intent behind the Pride District crosswalks.

“The city tried its best to balance the interest of the public at large while making sure that we get the funding necessary from the Texas Department of Transportation to do the projects for the community at large, while still recognizing and respecting the spirit of the intent behind the crosswalks, “ said Debbie Klein, who oversees litigation for the city. “We feel like we’ve struck that balance and by the judge’s decision today, we’re hoping we can move forward and get past this and have a good resolution.“

Klein said work to remove the rainbow crosswalks remains scheduled to begin Monday and is expected to take about a week. Portions of the crosswalk are expected to be salvaged for future artwork, she said.

Members of the city’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board said the ruling allows the city to move forward with plans to enhance the Pride Cultural Heritage District, even as the community prepares for the loss of the rainbow crosswalks.

“We’re excited in regard to the sidewalks, because we can now go forward with that,” said Maria Salazar, chair of the advisory board. “We’re looking forward to working with the community to enhance the LGBTQ+ Historic District on Main Street.There is no argument that we’re all disappointed that the crosswalk has to come down.” 

While no legal requirements would stop the installation of the rainbow sidewalks, a Thursday message from city manager, Erik Walsh, indicated that the project would be paused until a briefing could be given to council at executive session over concerns raised by council members earlier this week.