Dallas City Council Member Paul Ridley represents District 14, which encompasses much of the Gayborhood, including the Cedar Springs Strip where the city’s 10 rainbow crosswalks are located. Today (Friday, Oct. 10) Ridley issued the following statement regarding Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to the city to remove the rainbow crosswalks or risk losing federal funds:
“From a practical perspective, the city attorney is looking into our options, and we have time to comply, so I will be watching that closely. I support the ability of a community — whether the LGBTQ+ community, women or the Latino and African-American communities — to engage in public symbolism. If for some reason we are forced to remove symbolic crosswalks, I think we should consider flags on lamp posts, signage on buildings or some other way of visualizing the bonds of community.
“The idea that these crosswalks are a safety concern is unsupported and highly questionable. The real argument Abbott is using against these crosswalks is that they insert “ideology” into public spaces, using taxpayer dollars (untrue in the case of the rainbow crosswalks in Dallas). This is a bit hypocritical. Isn’t Abbott’s law requiring that the 10 Commandments be displayed in all public schools in Texas the same thing? The LGBTQ+ community in particular is being targeted to score political points, inflame divisions and please a political base, and it’s just not right.”