SAN ANTONIO, Tx — The LGBTQ+ Advisory Board and the City of San Antonio are gearing up for a fight to save the Rainbow Crosswalk.
“San Antonio is one of the last hold outs in this entire thing,” James Poindexter said. I’m asking everyone today to employ your city council member to call Abbott’s bluff.”
Poindexter of Pride Center San Antonio was talking about Governor Gregg Abott and his directive for the TXDOT to withhold funding from cities that do not remove all political ideologies from there streets. The Rainbow Crosswalk has been a symbol of hope in San Antonio’s Pride Cultural Heritage District since 2018.
Elizabeth Provencio the City Attorney first assistant says there is an exemption that may allow San Antonio to keep the Rainbow Crosswalk. She says the city has data showing the Rainbow Crosswalk has made the intersection safer.
“Previously t the installation of the Rainbow Crosswalk we have data going back three years,” Provencio said. “That data showed there were two traffic incidents that had occurred, and since the installation of the crosswalk going on 8 years, we’ve only had two instances.”
Jamie Zapata and Maria Salzar of the LGBTQ+ Advisory Board are hopeful the proposed exemption will save the Rainbow Crosswalk, but realistically they believe it will be shot down. Houston, Galveston, and Austin have already said they will comply with the governor’s orders. Dallas is reviewing the order.
Salazar, the chair of the LGBTQ+ Advisory Board says while she does believe the exemption will be successful they had to try. The exemption must be submitted by Nov. 8.