Residents of Dallas’ historically LGBTQ+ Oak Lawn neighborhood are suggesting ways to fill the void left after the city removed several iconic rainbow crosswalks to comply with a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott.
In a memo released Friday, the city said a survey conducted by the Office of Arts and Culture last month as part of a series of community feedback sessions showed 67% of respondents felt murals were the best type of public art to represent the LGBTQ+ community in Oak Lawn.
“Across the survey, participants expressed a clear wish for a community where people feel safe, welcomed, and genuinely represented — particularly members of the historically marginalized LGBTQ+ population,” the memo stated.
One idea residents put forward was painting the steps of the Oak Lawn Branch Library with rainbow colors, mirroring a similar move taken by the Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in October shortly after Abbott's directive came down.
“The rainbow steps at Oak Lawn and the conversations around the library reflect something deeper about this neighborhood,” Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison, a senior pastor at the church, told KERA. “People want visible reminders that love and inclusion and human dignity still matter in this country and in Dallas.”
The memo said the city will begin "activating concepts as resources allow.” It wasn’t clear what the next steps will be to implement community ideas. KERA has reached out to the city and will update this story with any response.
Tony Vedda, CEO and president of the North Texas LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, told KERA he doesn’t think anything can take the place of the crosswalks.
“I think, you know, they're a unique symbol for us,” Vedda said. “But I think that there are other good ideas coming out.”
Vedda's organization began raising funds for the Oak Lawn crosswalks in 2019. He told KERA in March that in 2020 the group gave the city a check for $128,250 to install the crosswalks.
The LGBTQ Chamber raised another $45,000 and had the crosswalks repainted in 2025 just a few months before Abbott's order.
The rainbow crosswalks were removed in March after the city unsuccessfully requested an exemption.Dallas was one of the last cities to remove its decorative crosswalks. Abbott threatened to pull transportation funding from cities that didn’t comply — a tactic he has increasingly employed to get cities to do what he wants.
A letter by the Texas Department of Transportation sent to cities last year ordered the removal of all “decorative crosswalks, murals, or markings conveying artwork or other messages.”
Despite that broad language, it hasn’t been evenly enforced. A street design of the Southern Methodist University mustang logo in University Park hasn’t been removed, and the city said it believes the logo is in compliance.
Communities across the state have responded to Abbott's order in different ways.
The LGBTQ+ community in San Antonio responded to their crosswalk removals by painting the sidewalks.
Vedda said many people in Oak Lawn feel the crosswalks were an expression of identity and were upset when they were removed.
“People are looking at, 'Okay, well, we can just sit here and be upset, or we can find new ways to express our community,'” Vedda said. “And that's what we're seeing.”
Dylan Duke is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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