SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Workcrews tore out four rainbow crosswalks in the city’s Pride District after a Texas judge rejected activists’ eleventh‑hour attempt to block Governor Greg Abbott’s order demanding the removal of political symbols from the state’s roadways. The city, facing the loss of up to $80 million in federal transportation funds, moved ahead with the state‑mandated compliance as workers finished scraping the final colors by Tuesday morning.
Workers have now removed four rainbow crosswalks in the Alamo City after an appeal to the State of Texas was denied in late November and a legal action seeking a temporary restraining order to pause the removal was denied by a district court judge on Friday.
Breitbart Texas visited the project site at North Main Avenue and West Evergreen Street, where workers continued removing the rainbow crosswalks; all had been removed by Tuesday morning. City of San Antonio officials filed an appeal of the removal order, issued by Governor Abbott, who directed the Texas Department of Transportation to remove unauthorized symbols and artwork from Texas roadways that represented “any and all political ideologies.
In an October 8 press release, Abbott warned city leaders of the consequences, saying, “Texans expect their taxpayer dollars to be used wisely, n ot advance political agendas on Texas roadways. Any city that refuses to comply with the federal road standards will face consequences, including the withholding or denial of state and federal road funding and suspension of agreements with TxDOT.”
In a last-minute attempt to prevent the removal of the four crosswalks, two local organizations, Pride San Antonio and the Texas Conservative Liberty Forum, filed a lawsuit last week in Bexar County district court against several city officials. According to a local news report, Judge Christine Vasquez-Hortick of the 225th District Court, a Democrat, denied the legal action seeking a temporary restraining order to halt work to remove the crosswalks in the heart of the Pride Cultural Heritage District.
Bonnie Kirkland, an attorney retained by the city argued in favor of proceeding with the removal of the crosswalks and against the approval of granting a temporary restraining order telling the court, “Everyone in this room might agree that this is a functional crosswalk, the state has said it’s not, and we have to bring in into compliance,” according to the article in the San Antonio report, a nonprofit local news organization.
The battle over the removal of similar crosswalks in cities nationwide stemmed from a July letter from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy to governors, requesting that non-standard roadway art be removed in the name of safety. At the time, Duffy issued a statement regarding the request saying, “Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork. Today, I am calling on governors in every state to ensure that roadways, intersections, and crosswalks are kept free of distractions. Far too many Americans die each year to traffic fatalities to take our eye off the ball.”
San Antonio would have faced the risk of losing approximately $80 million in federal funding tied to future transportation-related projects had they not complied with Abbott’s order.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X @RandyClarkBBTX.
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