![\"Montrose](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Image-73-1000x750.jpg\")
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Bianca Seward\/Houston Public Media<\/p>\n
Construction workers removed the rainbow crosswalks at the intersection of Westheimer Road and Taft Street on Monday, Oct. 20, 2025.<\/p>\n
When the rainbow crosswalks at the intersection of Westheimer Road and Taft Street were stripped out last fall<\/a> as part of a directive by the state government, Jack Valinski began making calls to restore the symbols of LGBTQIA+ pride.<\/p>\n “I figured like in a month we would have had this,” said Valinski, the president of the Montrose Super Neighborhood Council. “I never thought it would be this long.”<\/p>\n It’s been nearly nine months since the rainbow crosswalks were removed at the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who cited guidance from federal transportation officials<\/a> about public safety concerns on roadways and the use of taxpayer money for political messaging.<\/p>\n Sign up for the Hello, Houston!<\/a> daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n Now, Valinski \u2013 alongside Pride Houston 365 President Kerry Ann Morrison, Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin, Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Houston City Council members Joe Panzarella, Mario Castillo and Alejandra Salinas \u2013 have announced that rainbows will return to the Montrose area in the form of banners hung above Westheimer.<\/p>\n And they could be funded by the mayor personally, according to Valinski.<\/p>\n The local officials just have one last hurdle to clear before the banners are up.<\/p>\n “We now have permission from the city. We now have to go through the bureaucracy of CenterPoint,” Valinski said. “From what I understand, it\u2019s just a process of getting the forms filled out and satisfying what they need because we\u2019re putting stuff on their poles.”<\/p>\n CenterPoint Energy, which supplies electricity to much of the Houston region and owns utility poles across the city, confirmed to Houston Public Media it received the request to hang banners. Valinski said the hope is to have them hung in time for the city’s rescheduled Pride parade on Aug. 15, but he added it\u2019s not a guarantee.<\/p>\n The annual parade, originally planned for June 6 in downtown Houston, was called off just hours <\/a>before it was set to start due to rain. <\/p>\n For Valinski, a co-founder of Pride Houston 365, the proposed banners are small but symbolic. <\/p>\n “We\u2019re putting rags on public utility poles, but it does mean a lot,” Valinski said. “It means a lot because our crossing was taken away from us. This means a lot that this will be sort of a show of who and what we are in our community.”<\/p>\n The plan for the banners is to hang them along Westheimer between Taft \u2013 where the original rainbow crosswalks were painted \u2013 to Montrose Boulevard. They will display the Intersex-Inclusive Pride flag, which was released in 2021.<\/p>\n Courtesy of Jack Valinski<\/p>\n Mock-ups of the banners to be hung on Westheimer Road between Taft Street and Montrose Boulevard.<\/p>\n “I was there at 2 a.m. when the bulldozers came to remove the Pride crosswalk, and to be able to come back and put up these banners all along Westheimer, as opposed to just one crosswalk, is really amazing to see,” Panzarella said. “The hope is that we can actually extend the banner district beyond its geographic footprint right now.”<\/p>\n Who will pay for it?<\/b><\/p>\n How the installation will be funded is unclear. In the fall, then-city council member Abbie Kamin’s office allocated $10,000 to help finance the project. Panzarella, who took over Kamin’s city council seat in late May after winning a special election<\/a>, said Tuesday the mayor’s office wanted to exclude city finances from the project.<\/p>\n “So it’s going to be funded from private sources and that’s being led by the mayor,” Panzarella said.<\/p>\n The mayor’s office referred questions about financing to Valinski.<\/p>\n “The mayor was a little bit concerned that if the city put the money in, that there would be a concern from the governor\u2019s office,” Valinski said. “Pride Houston has money to fund it, although we\u2019re going to be raising money to help put that money back into our bucket. The mayor told us in a conversation when council member [Panzarella] was sworn in that he would fund it personally.”<\/p>\n The mayor’s office did not respond to requests for comment about whether Whitmire offered to personally pay for the banners or about fears that using public funding would upset Texas’ Republican leaders, including Abbott.<\/p>\n Banners date back to mid-90s<\/b><\/p>\n The crosswalks, originally painted in 2017, became a longtime symbol of support for the LGBTQIA+ community. They were designed to honor Alex Hill, who at age 21 was killed by a hit-and-run driver at the intersection in 2016.<\/p>\n RELATED: <\/b>Montrose’s rainbow crosswalks are gone after Texas officials ordered their removal<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n![\"proposed](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/banners-from-pride-houston-365.png\")
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