{"id":32363,"date":"2025-11-02T21:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T21:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/32363\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T21:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T21:59:08","slug":"oak-lawn-church-consecrates-rainbow-display-on-its-front-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/32363\/","title":{"rendered":"Oak Lawn church consecrates rainbow display on its front steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, in a consecration ceremony Sunday, celebrated the completion of a rainbow display painted on its front steps. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

One of Dallas\u2019 rainbow crosswalks is painted right in front of the church. The church is located in Dallas\u2019 historically LGBTQ neighborhood and known for its connection with the LGBTQ community. <\/p>\n

At the ceremony Sunday, the Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison led the audience in a call-and-response ceremony that included a series of blessings. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThese steps are more than paint: They are a prayer of sacred resistance, declaring that God\u2019s love will not be silenced or painted over,\u201d she said. She instructed the congregation to respond throughout the prayer with the refrain, \u201cLove belongs in public.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEach color preaches the gospel \u2013 that every person is created in the image of God, and worthy of safety, dignity and belonging,\u201d Griffin-Allison said. She ended the consecration to cheers and claps from the crowd gathered around her. <\/p>\n

\u201cLove always finds a way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Rev.<\/p>\n

Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison, senior pastor of Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, consecrate\u2019s the new rainbow steps at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Christine Vo \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

On Oct. 8, Abbott directed the Texas Department of Transportation<\/a> to ensure that cities and counties erase \u201cany and all political ideologies from our streets,\u201d including symbols and flags. <\/p>\n

\u201cTexans expect their taxpayer dollars to be used wisely, not advance political agendas on Texas roadways,\u201d Abbott said in a news release announcing his directive. \u201cTo keep Texans moving safely and free from distraction, we must maintain a safe and consistent transportation network across Texas.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\"Churchgoers<\/p>\n

Churchgoers take photos on the rainbow steps at Oak Lawn United Methodist Church on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Christine Vo \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Most of Texas\u2019 largest cities \u2014 including Dallas<\/a>, Houston, Austin and San Antonio \u2014 have rainbow crosswalks<\/a>. A crew in Houston removed the rainbow paint<\/a> from a crosswalk in the city\u2019s Montrose neighborhood last week.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Christine Vo \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of effort right now being put to make people like us less visible,\u201d Hayden Parmar-Weiss said. \u201cWe\u2019re matching their energy and making sure that we are just as visible as ever, if not more visible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2019s rainbow steps. His sign said the rainbow was \u201ca promise of God, not a symbol of pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oak Lawn residents have protested the impending removal of their rainbow crosswalks, including at an Oct. 18 gathering<\/a> 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\u2019s order. <\/p>\n

Ridley said in an interview Sunday the Dallas City Council is set to discuss Dallas\u2019 rainbow crosswalks on Nov. 5.<\/p>\n

\"Cars<\/p>\n

Cars drive past a rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of Cedar Springs Road and Oak Lawn Avenue, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in Dallas.<\/p>\n

El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Texas is not the only state ordering the removal of rainbow crosswalks. <\/p>\n

In Florida this summer, work crews painted over a rainbow crosswalk honoring the victims of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse Nightclub<\/a> in Orlando, angering many in the community.<\/p>\n

In July, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy<\/a> asked states to join a national safety initiative aimed at removing artwork and political messaging from roads. \u201cTaxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets,\u201d Duffy wrote on X<\/a>, \u201cnot rainbow crosswalks.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oak Lawn United Methodist Church, in a consecration ceremony Sunday, celebrated the completion of a rainbow display painted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,291,1881,392,5303,900,287],"class_list":{"0":"post-32363","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news","11":"tag-equity","12":"tag-faith","13":"tag-greg-abbott","14":"tag-lgbt","15":"tag-oak-lawn","16":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}