More than 300 people rallied at the Legacy of Love monument on Oak Lawn Avenue at Cedar Springs Road on Saturday, Oct. 18, to support leaving the rainbow crosswalks in place.
Former Mayor Laura Miller, one of the rally’s organizers, was in attendance. So was state Rep. Terry Meza, D-Irving, and former state Rep. Harryette Ehrhardt.
The Rev. Neil Thomas, in his opening invocation, said, “God put a rainbow in the sky and in our crosswalks.”
Alexandre’s owner Lee Daugherty said, “The governor has declared war on the community. He has committed cultural vandalism.”
And, Daugherty stressed, stripping the stripes away won’t make the street safe.
Dallas City Councilman Paul Ridley, whose district includes the street and the monument where the gathering took place, called the LGBTQ+ community a proud community with courage and a commitment to justice. He called the rainbow crosswalks “a symbol of pride and inclusion” and said “a community should have the right to express its identity.”
Ridley said calling gender identity or sexual orientation “an ideology is offensive. Public spaces should be welcoming.”
State Rep. Venton Jones called Dallas “the city we built together,” and said, “the governor of Texas is choosing once again to target and erase the LGBT community.”
In the middle of a government shutdown, the governor is threatening to defund our cities, he said.
“This isn’t about roads,” Jones said, “It’s about our very existence.”
Daugherty left the crowd with several action items: Contact the city manager’s office to request TxDOT grant an exemption and call your city council member and leave a message supporting the rainbow crosswalks. And “Do what you can on your own property to make sure the rainbow flies forever.”
GLAAD Texas is holding a meeting on Wednesday evening about the rainbow crosswalks. Time and location will be posted when we get the information.
Houston has already removed its rainbow crosswalks despite protesters at the scene.
— David Taffet