{"id":500249,"date":"2026-01-08T01:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/500249\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T01:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:48:11","slug":"san-antonio-prepares-to-move-rainbows-from-crosswalks-to-sidewalks-in-pride-district-sparking-mixed-reactions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/500249\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio prepares to move rainbows from crosswalks to sidewalks in Pride district, sparking mixed reactions"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 The rainbow crosswalks at the heart of San Antonio\u2019s Pride Cultural Heritage District are set to be replaced next week after pressure from the state.<\/p>\n

While the city will remove the crosswalks, it is already working to add rainbow treatment to the sidewalks along the stretch of North Main Avenue<\/a>, known as the \u201cgay strip.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crews were seen power washing the sidewalk Wednesday in preparation for six-foot wide rainbow striping one block north and one block south of the intersection of North Main Avenue and East Evergreen Street, where the rainbow crosswalks currently sit.<\/p>\n

City of San Antonio schematics for rainbow crosswalk plans on North Main Avenue between Park Avenue and East Laurel Avenue. (City of San Antonio)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re losing a little rainbow, but we\u2019re gaining a lot more,\u201d said Michael Rendon, a member of the city\u2019s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo you kind of come after our rainbows \u2014 you know, crosswalks \u2014 and we\u2019re going to come back with a whole bunch more rainbow,” Rendon said. \u201cLike I said, it\u2019s just the beginning. We have a lot more of ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

A city schematic of the design shows chevrons at the corners, emulating the Progress Pride flag, which has colors representing the transgender community and people of color.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the recent climate, our trans community is being more attacked. People of color are being more attacked,\u201d Rendon said. \u201cWe felt it was very important that we include them.\u201d<\/p>\n

KSAT spoke with people walking on the strip Wednesday, who said they approved of the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally feel like it\u2019s a fair trade, and I think it\u2019s more ground that it covers, too, right?\u201d Arianna Venti said. \u201cLike, right here we just have the little square, but now it\u2019s like the whole strip, you know?”<\/p>\n

The rainbow crosswalk design calls for six-foot-wide rainbows with chevrons emulating the Progress Pride flag at its corners (City of San Antonio)<\/p>\n

State and federal pressure to remove rainbow crosswalks has been ramping up for months.<\/p>\n

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced a \u201cSAFE ROADS\u201d initiative in July<\/a> that included a push to reduce \u201cdistractions,\u201d saying \u201croads are for safety, not political messages or artwork.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just over three months after Duffy\u2019s letter to all 50 governors, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an Oct. 8<\/a> directive for cities and counties to \u201cremove any and all political ideologies\u201d from Texas streets, under the threat of losing state and federal road funding.<\/p>\n

San Antonio made an unsuccessful attempt<\/a> to get an exception for its rainbow crosswalks, but in December, Assistant City Manager John Peterek told the Texas Department of Transportation the city would remove and replace the crosswalks by Jan. 15.<\/p>\n

In a Monday memo to City Manager Erik Walsh and city council members, Peterek said the city would begin \u201cthe installation of artistic enhancements including rainbow striping\u201d that day. <\/p>\n

The removal of the rainbow crosswalks and installation of the standard black-and-white designs would start Monday, Jan. 12, he wrote.<\/p>\n

The $170,000 project will be funded from existing Public Works operational dollars. Since previously-approved contractors are being used, Peterek said the work didn\u2019t require council approval.<\/p>\n

KSAT asked the city for a breakdown of the project costs, but has not yet received it.<\/p>\n

The two conservatives on the city council, Misty Spears (D9) and Marc Whyte (D10), slammed the use of public dollars in a joint news release Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\n

If private individuals or businesses wish to use their money to make a statement, they have the right to do so. But to use public dollars to paint colored sidewalks instead of allocating that money to core infrastructure needs is not in the best interest of our citizens.<\/p>\n

Councilman Marc Whyte (D10)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

I believe the elimination of the rainbow crosswalks was an important roadway safety decision made by the state of Texas and not intended to target San Antonio or the LGBTQ community. Protected free speech is what makes America the best country in the world.\u00a0 However, tax dollars should not fund individual viewpoints.<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Misty Spears (D9)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pride San Antonio raised nearly $20,000 to cover the extra costs of installing the rainbow crosswalks in 2018 \u2014 a project that cost roughly $32,500 in all. <\/p>\n

Peterek said pieces of the crosswalk would be saved for possible future art installations.<\/p>\n

Some are still upset, however, that the city did not fight harder to keep the crosswalk.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all for the sidewalks. We just feel that the city should be willing to stand up for the community and fight for the crosswalks,\u201d said James Poindexter, Pride San Antonio Secretary and Parade Director.<\/p>\n

Read also:<\/b><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 The rainbow crosswalks at the heart of San Antonio\u2019s Pride Cultural Heritage District are set…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":500250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,13239,175835,5603,49500,175327,3009,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-500249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-city-hall","10":"tag-john-peterek","11":"tag-lgbtq","12":"tag-marc-whyte","13":"tag-misty-spears","14":"tag-pride","15":"tag-san-antonio","16":"tag-sanantonio","17":"tag-texas","18":"tag-tx","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-united-states-of-america","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","23":"tag-us","24":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115856965859904820","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}