Four protesters have been arrested in Houston, Texas, after attempting to block the removal of a rainbow-coloured Pride crossing, which had served as a symbol of LGBTQ+ visibility and remembrance.
According to the Houston Chronicle, the arrests took place at the intersection of Westheimer Road and Taft on Sunday (19 October), after demonstrators stood on the crosswalk to prevent it from being torn up. The removal followed a directive from Texas governor Greg Abbott, who ordered the Department of Transportation to eliminate all “decorative crosswalks, murals or markings conveying artwork or other messages” from roadways across the state.
Abbott warned local authorities that failure to comply within 30 days would risk losing state funding.
Charges Pending After Peaceful Demonstration
The arrested individuals are reportedly facing charges, though details remained unconfirmed as of Monday afternoon.
After the crosswalk was ultimately removed and covered over, demonstrators continued their protest by writing messages in chalk on the nearby pavement. Some also draped Pride flags in the area as a sign of defiance.
A protester named Andy Escobar criticised the government’s priorities:
“We know we have some of the worst air quality, we have people disappearing in the bayous, we have urgent matters that need to be attended to, and we are wasting time on a distraction and [the] vilification of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans people.”
Pride Crossing Had Memorial Significance
Protesters explained that the rainbow crossing had been installed not only as a symbol of LGBTQ+ pride, but also in memory of a person who died in a hit-and-run accident at the intersection several years ago. Its removal has sparked renewed anger among queer residents and allies in Houston.
Journalist Gwen Howerton shared updates from the scene, noting that construction crews didn’t begin work until more than two hours after the scheduled time due to the protest.
“Two and a half hours after construction was supposed to start, and four arrests later, crews have begun removing the rainbow crosswalk at Westheimer and Taft in Houston,” she wrote on X.
One unnamed construction worker told Howerton he respected the LGBTQ+ community and understood the importance of the rainbow crosswalk, but was simply doing his job.
Part of a Wider Crackdown
The removal comes amid a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment sweeping parts of the US. Earlier this month in Florida, a rainbow crosswalk in Miami Beach, installed in 2018 and celebrated as a landmark of LGBTQ+ history, was destroyed by local officials.
The crackdown on symbolic public art — including Pride flags, murals, and crossings — has been widely condemned by human rights groups as part of an orchestrated campaign to erase LGBTQ+ visibility in public spaces.
