AT A GLANCE
- A lawsuit has temporarily paused San Antonio’s $170,000 rainbow sidewalk project in the Pride Cultural Heritage District.
- The city is proceeding with the removal of the rainbow crosswalks despite the lawsuit, as required under state transportation directives.
- The pause only intensifies the public split on City Council, with Districts 9 and 10 objecting to public funding and Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) calling the objections hypocritical.
“Taxpayers Wouldn’t Be Paying Anything If Greg Abbott Didn’t Force Us”: Councilman McKee-Rodriguez Blasts Colleagues Over Pride Sidewalks
San Antonio’s effort to preserve LGBTQ visibility in its Pride Cultural Heritage District came to a pause, as a lawsuit has temporarily halted the city’s planned rainbow sidewalk installation — even as the removal of the rainbow crosswalk moves forward under pressure from the state.
The city began preparing sidewalks along North Main Avenue for six-foot-wide rainbow striping after the state ordered the removal of the rainbow crosswalk at Evergreen Street and Main Avenue. Installed in 2018, the crosswalk was largely paid for and maintained through private donations and had become a defining landmark of the Pride Cultural Heritage District.
The Texas Department of Transportation denied the city’s request for an exemption to keep the crosswalk, citing a statewide directive from Gov. Greg Abbott to eliminate what the state characterizes as political or ideological roadway markings. Facing the loss of state and federal transportation funding, city officials agreed to remove the crosswalk and replace it with a standard black-and-white design.
To maintain visibility while complying with state rules, city leadership moved to shift rainbow elements off the roadway and onto adjacent sidewalks — a plan estimated to cost $170,000 and funded through existing Public Works dollars.
That plan is now on hold.
Lawsuit Pauses Sidewalks, Not Crosswalk Removal
Pride San Antonio and the Texas Conservative Liberty Forum filed a joint lawsuit challenging the city’s process, arguing that the decision to remove the crosswalks and fund the rainbow sidewalks was made without full public deliberation by City Council. The lawsuit does not seek to permanently block the sidewalks, but calls for the issue to be placed on a council agenda and debated in open session.
City Manager Erik Walsh confirmed that sidewalk painting has been paused while council members are briefed and further discussions take place with the LGBTQIA Advisory Board and community stakeholders.
The city, however, is continuing with its plans to remove the rainbow crosswalk as required by the state.
While the current legal challenge has shifted the timeline, it has not shifted the debate between council members at City Hall.
Council Conservatives On Blast
The pause comes during a time of vocal objections from District 9 Councilwoman Misty Spears and District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte, who have criticized the use of public funds for the rainbow sidewalk project.
Whyte said Public Works dollars should be reserved for traditional infrastructure needs such as street repairs, drainage, and sidewalk maintenance, arguing that city funds should not be used for expressive projects.
Spears echoed those concerns, framing the state’s order to remove the crosswalk as a roadway safety decision and maintaining that taxpayer dollars should not fund individual viewpoints.
Their statements drew a sharp rebuttal from District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, the first openly gay man elected to the San Antonio City Council. McKee-Rodriguez said the objections ignore the documented safety record of the crosswalk and the fact that taxpayers were not footing the bill until the state forced the city’s hand.
“Data shows that this intersection was safer after the installation of the crosswalk,” McKee-Rodriguez said, rejecting claims that the issue was ever about safety. He described the state’s actions as part of a broader pattern of targeting the LGBTQ+ community and said the city was placed in an impossible position.
“It is hypocritical to all of a sudden pretend to care about frugality and taxpayer dollars when they didn’t mind the city wasting tens of thousands of dollars replacing an intersection that was perfectly safe and being maintained privately,” McKee-Rodriguez said. “Taxpayers wouldn’t be paying anything if Greg Abbott didn’t force us to rip up and replace a perfectly good intersection. Misty and Marc can direct their frustrations to his office, if they’re so concerned.”
As the rainbow crosswalk is removed and the sidewalk project is paused, the conversations at City Hall over public spending has exposed a familiar divide, as critics say objections from conservative council members reflect party loyalty and political signaling rather than a good-faith debate over infrastructure or the needs of San Antonio residents.
