The rainbow crosswalks in the Oak Lawn neighborhood of Dallas are gone.
After a relatively prolonged effort to save them, the city complied with the Governor Greg Abbott's order to remove any crosswalks that express political ideologies.
Robert Emery is a historian, activist, and advocate for the gay community in Dallas as well as co-founder of The Dallas Way. He spoke with KERA's Ron Corning about the symbolism behind the removal of these colorful sidewalks — and how he expects the community to move forward.
These interview highlights have been edited for length and clarity.
These crosswalks appear to have been removed sooner than anyone expected, since Dallas had until the end of April to do so. What exactly happened?
It just so happened the city of Dallas had a scheduled resurfacing of that particular section of the street. It was on the calendar for a very long time and it simply came [Monday].
These crosswalks were inevitably going to be removed, even though there was resistance in Dallas that lasted longer than in other cities. Why is that?
That's the good news about Dallas. When the Governor issued his statement, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio complied immediately. Dallas has former mayor Laura Miller and her brilliant daughter, who's an attorney. They led the legal resistance for us.
Why do you think the same sort of cohesion didn't exist in the community in other places?
I'm not sure it's a matter of cohesion, because San Antonio has done something magnificent. They removed their rainbow crosswalks immediately, but have replaced them with far more elaborate rainbow sidewalks.
We've seen similar moves here in Dallas. For example, the steps of the Methodist Church right there at Cedar Springs in Oak Lawn now has colorful Pride steps out front.
Not to continue with the roadway analogies, but is this a speed-bump in the movement for equality as you see it?
You are exactly correct because any time someone, such as a Governor, tries to erase a community, it only strengthens them. It only makes them more visible. Here we are talking about it, and we wouldn't be talking about this if the governor hadn't started this crazy campaign.
In the beginning, this was about safety — that these colorful crosswalks weren't safe. Now they're saying it is a matter of political ideologies. Which is it?
It is certainly political ideologies and they have finally come out of the closet to be honest about it. The Governor first started with safety, but multiple highway safety studies have shown that the more distinctive and decorative you make a crosswalk, the safer it is for pedestrians.
Now, let me hasten to say that the LGBTQ community is as tired as we can possibly be of our lives constantly being politicized. It is not a political statement. The rainbow is a symbol of inclusion.
I think it's also important for context to let people know that these colorful crosswalks exist all over Texas, and it's not just for the LGBTQ community.
Governor Abbott's order encompasses all non-standard crosswalk designs, including crosswalks in Lubbock honoring Buddy Holly and crosswalks featuring student art in Bedford. It was obvious that Abbott's main target was rainbow crosswalks and all the other designs were collateral damage.
In the city of Dallas, we will have the removal of 30 [crosswalks], 20 of which are rainbow pride. The others that are not rainbows but related to something else like Black Lives Matter, Bishop Arts, the pony at SMU. Someone asked me, 'Golly, it's too bad that this only affects the gay community.' It does not.
You're a historian, you're not a prophet, but our history can inform our future. What do you see coming next for this community?
As always, we come together in solidarity. The more anyone tries to erase the LGBTQ community, the greater our visibility grows. We thrive and we flourish, we create and we contribute.
Ron Corning is the host of KERA's forthcoming talk show, NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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