Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, in a consecration ceremony Sunday, celebrated the completion of a rainbow display painted on its front steps.
The church announced last week it was painting its steps with the colors of a Pride flag in response to a directive from Gov. Greg Abbott, who on Oct. 8 ordered the removal of rainbow crosswalks across the state. The flag is a common symbol of support for the LGBTQ community.
One of Dallas’ rainbow crosswalks is painted right in front of the church. The church is located in Dallas’ historically LGBTQ neighborhood and known for its connection with the LGBTQ community.
At the ceremony Sunday, the Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison led the audience in a call-and-response ceremony that included a series of blessings.
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“These steps are more than paint: They are a prayer of sacred resistance, declaring that God’s love will not be silenced or painted over,” she said. She instructed the congregation to respond throughout the prayer with the refrain, “Love belongs in public.”
“Each color preaches the gospel – that every person is created in the image of God, and worthy of safety, dignity and belonging,” Griffin-Allison said. She ended the consecration to cheers and claps from the crowd gathered around her.
“Love always finds a way,” she said.
Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison, senior pastor of Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, consecrate’s the new rainbow steps at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Dallas.
Christine Vo / Staff Photographer
On Oct. 8, Abbott directed the Texas Department of Transportation to ensure that cities and counties erase “any and all political ideologies from our streets,” including symbols and flags.
“Texans expect their taxpayer dollars to be used wisely, not advance political agendas on Texas roadways,” Abbott said in a news release announcing his directive. “To keep Texans moving safely and free from distraction, we must maintain a safe and consistent transportation network across Texas.”
The transportation department told Texas cities and counties they had 30 days to comply with the directive before they would risk losing state and federal transportation funding and partnerships.
Churchgoers take photos on the rainbow steps at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Dallas.
Christine Vo / Staff Photographer
Most of Texas’ largest cities — including Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio — have rainbow crosswalks. A crew in Houston removed the rainbow paint from a crosswalk in the city’s Montrose neighborhood last week.
Hayden and Rango Parmar-Weiss attend Oak Lawn UMC and came to the consecration ceremony Sunday. The couple said they got married last week, due in part to a fear that they would soon lose the ability to legally marry.
Rango Parmar-Weiss said they particularly appreciated that the church painted its steps with the Progress Pride flag, which includes black and brown stripes along with the pink and blue stripes of the trans flag.
Dallas residents Jessica Hill, 37, (left) and Scottlynd Colgrode, 37, take photos on the rainbow steps at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Dallas.
Christine Vo / Staff Photographer
“There’s a lot of effort right now being put to make people like us less visible,” Hayden Parmar-Weiss said. “We’re matching their energy and making sure that we are just as visible as ever, if not more visible.”
After the consecration service ended, a man who declined to give his name stood outside the church with an American and Christian flag and a sign protesting the church’s rainbow steps. His sign said the rainbow was “a promise of God, not a symbol of pride.”
Oak Lawn residents have protested the impending removal of their rainbow crosswalks, including at an Oct. 18 gathering which drew about 120 people. At that event, Dallas City Council member Paul Ridley, who represents Oak Lawn, said he was exploring legal options to rebuff Abbott’s order.
Ridley said in an interview Sunday the Dallas City Council is set to discuss Dallas’ rainbow crosswalks on Nov. 5.
Cars drive past a rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of Cedar Springs Road and Oak Lawn Avenue, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in Dallas.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Texas is not the only state ordering the removal of rainbow crosswalks.
In Florida this summer, work crews painted over a rainbow crosswalk honoring the victims of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, angering many in the community.
In July, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked states to join a national safety initiative aimed at removing artwork and political messaging from roads. “Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets,” Duffy wrote on X, “not rainbow crosswalks.”