Houston’s Montrose Rainbow Crosswalk Erased Overnight After Four Arrests
Police arrested four protesters who tried to block construction crews from paving over the Pride-colored crosswalk.
Featured image by Moisés ÁVILA / AFP
Before dawn on Monday, workers paved over one of Houston’s most recognizable LGBTQ+ landmarks: the rainbow-painted crosswalk in the city’s Montrose neighborhood. The removal came after overnight clashes between police and protesters that ended with four people arrested for blocking the road.
Montrose, Houston’s queer district, had embraced the rainbow crosswalk at Westheimer Road and Taft Street as both a symbol of pride and a memorial. It was first installed in 2017 to honor 21-year-old Alex Hill, who was killed there in a hit-and-run.
Related: Orlando Artists Fill Parking Lot With Color In Protest Of Rainbow Crosswalk Ban
The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) ordered the removal after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to withhold state funding from cities that displayed what he called “social, political, or ideological messages” on public streets. The directive followed a U.S. Department of Transportation memo advising states to remove decorative crosswalks and murals.
City Council Member Abbie Kamin, who represents Montrose, said METRO had promised to alert her before any removal began. Instead, she said she found out late Sunday night when residents saw heavy machinery moving in. “This is shameful,” Kamin told the Houston Chronicle. “All you have to do is look at the time of night it was removed to know how cowardly this is.”
According to the Houston Police Department, officers arrived at the scene around 11 pm Sunday and stayed until 6:30 am as the work unfolded. The arrests happened when demonstrators refused to leave the roadway, sitting or standing on the painted crosswalk to block the heavy machinery. Police said charges were pending as of Monday afternoon.
By morning, the intersection was bare. “It takes a lot of hate to dig up a rainbow,” Jeffery Gielow, who owns a nearby bike shop, told Houston Public Media. “They dug it up. They threw it away. How do you think his family feels?”
Related: Iowa Town Defies Trump Administration’s Request To Remove Its Pride Crosswalks
For many residents, the removal felt like more than a loss of paint. “It really meant something to me, it acknowledged the Montrose neighborhood, and for them to erase it makes me so sad,” Katherine Regis told the Chronicle. Longtime resident Laura Conley agreed. “This is the heart of Montrose,” she said. “They didn’t just take the paint off; my god, they went down inches. It’s like they’re digging a soul out.”
Similar scenes have unfolded elsewhere. In Florida earlier this month, a rainbow crosswalk in Miami Beach that was installed in 2018 to celebrate LGBTQ+ visibility was also removed under state pressure.
As traffic returned to normal in Montrose on Monday morning, one protester stood by the curb and watched cars pass over the new asphalt. “It’s not going to work,” said Kevin Strickland. “Even if the paint’s removed, we’re still going to be seen, we’re still going to be heard.”
