DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writer
Taffet@DallasVoice.com
In response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to cities to remove all rainbow crosswalks, Houston complied on Monday, Oct. 20, and Galveston has painted over its lone rainbow. San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones applied to TxDOT for an exception earlier this week for its lone rainbow crosswalk, including data in her application that shows the area is safer with the rainbows than without.
And in Dallas, attorney Alex Wolens — who is working pro bono for the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce — said studies show rainbow crosswalks reduce accidents involving pedestrians. She recommended that the city of Dallas also apply for an exception citing safety as a reason.
Cities have until Nov. 8 to remove the crosswalks or file for an exception.
But Oak Lawn United Methodist Church isn’t waiting to see what Dallas city officials will do.
The church has decided to give its nondescript cement steps, leading up from Cedar Springs Road to its main sanctuary, a new and very colorful paint job incorporating the colors of the rainbow flag and the transgender Pride flag.
Work on the project began on Tuesday, and the upgrade to the historic building is expected to take about two weeks.
“We have talked about it over the course of several years just as an idea,” said the Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison, senior pastor of OLUMC. But, she said, when she saw Gov. Abbott’s threats get more serious, she moved into action.
“I proposed painting the steps to the board at 6 p.m. on Monday, and we started painting on Tuesday morning,” Griffin-Allison said.
The OLUMC building is on the National Register of Historic Places, so any changes to the historic structure are prohibited or, at least, need formal approval. But the structure itself, including the brown brick and stone railings, are not being touched in this project. Only the steps are being painted, and those are modern concrete that was already painted.
A team of church members led by Robert Garcia Sr. began painting the steps on Tuesday morning. Garcia said they’d need four or five coats of paint before applying a non-slip sealer that will help preserve the paint and make climbing the stairs safer.
Church leadership hopes “the rainbow steps will serve as both a statement of solidarity and a sanctuary of hope for the LGBTQ+ community and allies across Dallas.”
“This is not a political act,” Griffin-Allison said. “It’s a pastoral one. It’s an expression of our faith in a God whose covenant love is wider than fear and whose grace refuses to be painted over.”
She called it “a bold statement of sacred resistance,” that will send a message to her congregation and anyone who passes by: “You will not be erased,” and “God calls love to be visible, and love belongs in public.”
And will this act of sacred defiance annoy the governor and provoke him to call for its removal?
“I don’t know if he’ll care about church steps,” Griffin-Allison said. “And that’s not my goal.”
To protect the steps from malicious mischief, she said the church will keep the entrance well-lit at night. “We’ll take measures necessary to protect the steps from any vandalism,” she said.
The church has also engaged muralist Lee Madrid to create a mural on the landings. The community will be invited to help paint.
“The community can help and have skin in the game,” Griffin-Allison said.
Madrid did the original design and painted the wall on the former Nelson-Tebedo Clinic, a mural was was recently painted over by the building’s the new tenant.
“Our rainbow steps are more than paint,” Griffin-Allison said. “They’re a prayer of sacred resistance, declaring that God’s love will not be silenced,” and that “God’s love can’t be erased.”
“We’re painting our steps because we want every person who approaches our doors or passes through the neighborhood to know: There’s a place for you here, and the love of God meets you exactly as you are,” she said.
Motivating the community
The governor’s order to remove the rainbow crosswalks has motivated the North Texas LGBTQ+ community in a way no other single issue has in years.
In response to the order to eliminate rainbow crosswalks, Cedar Springs Merchants Association held meeting on Oct. 16 at the Round-Up Saloon. About 75 people showed up for the noon gathering.
Chamber CEO Tony Vedda spoke at that meeting about what the next steps might be, including possibly filing for an exemption. But alternate ways to decorate The Strip with rainbows were suggested should the city be forced to remove the new crosswalks.
Then a small group of community activists, including former Mayor Laura Miller, organized a rally at the Legacy of Love monument on Saturday, Oct. 18. Between 350 and 400 people attended. State Rep. Venton Jones and Dallas City Council Member Paul Ridley spoke.
Ridley pointed out that Abbott’s complaint about public funds supporting an “ideology” is a little hypocritical coming from the same person who pushed a bill through the Legislature requiring all Texas public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments.
Jones called the rainbow crosswalks “a symbol of pride and inclusion,” adding that “a community should have the right to express its identity.”
Safety is a prime concern to the community, even if it’s only an excuse for the governor, and it seems the governor lied about rainbow crosswalks being dangerous. Maybe he didn’t realize actual studies have been done.
A Florida study shows that at rainbow crosswalks, there was a 10 percent decrease in drivers running a stop sign and a 6 percent increase in drivers coming to a full stop, according to Equality Florida. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis led the way in red states banning rainbow crosswalks for safety reasons.
In St. Petersburg, Fla., following installation of rainbow crosswalks and other street art in 2016, the city saw an overall decrease in crash rates, with one intersection seeing a 73 percent decrease in crashes.
A 2022 Bloomberg study on the safety of asphalt art showed that colorful installations such as crosswalks decrease crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists by 50 percent and increase drivers yielding to pedestrians by 27 percent.
In Cincinnati, the Bloomberg study showed, rainbows and other crosswalks increased driver compliance with stop signs by three times.
According to Smart Growth America, about 50,000 people were struck and killed while walking in the last 10 years. In 2018, pedestrians and bicyclists made up 20 percent of all traffic fatalities.
While the Cedar Springs Merchants Association and LGBTQ Chamber continue to work to save the crosswalks, they also are looking into alternate ways to keep the neighborhood festooned with rainbows.
While rainbows may be currently outlawed on the street, TxDOT doesn’t have jurisdiction over the sidewalks. And the city, not the state, regulates and maintains the poles and light posts and what hangs from them along the street. Planned bike racks for the strip may come in rainbow colors for just a tad higher price than they would have been in plain metal.
And Cathedral of Hope, which anchors the northernmost tip of The Strip, is looking at several options, according to its senior pastor, the Rev. Neil Thomas.
This Saturday is trunk or treat,” Thomas said. “We’re asking people to leave chalk messages on the sidewalk.”
But that’s only a temporary statement. He said church leadership is looking for a more permanent installation.
“Part of what we can do is light up our building,” he said. “And we have places on the campus where we can put crosswalks.”
Lighting up the building might include a rainbow display projected on the John Thomas Bell Wall that could be seen by planes as they land at Love Field.
Meanwhile, work will continue for another week or so on the rainbow steps at OLUMC, which will be dedicated at noon on Nov. 2, following Sunday morning services. The community is invited.
Photos by Chad Mantooth
and David Taffet