Where\u00a0Montrose\u2019s rainbow crosswalks once stood,\u00a0new rainbow banners will serve as indicators of LGBTQ+ pride: The city will install a series of banners reinstating the Montrose Pride Banner District, first approved in 1999.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The banners will likely be installed by Aug. 15, before the city\u2019s rescheduled Pride Parade, Pride Houston 365 announced in a Thursday news release. The project is made possible through a special designation from the city that allows the rainbow banners to be hung along\u00a0Westheimer Road through\u00a0Montrose.<\/p>\n
The project was a joint effort between Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin\u2019s office, Neartown Montrose Super Neighborhood leadership including Pride Houston 365 \u2014 the original sponsor of the banner district \u2014 and the city.\u00a0Kamin said her office allocated $10,000 to install the banners.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time where so many communities are being targeted by (President Donald) Trump and our state, it\u2019s important to, not just in words, but in our actions, stand up for the people we represent,\u201d Kamin said.<\/p>\n
Kamin said\u00a0much of the work happened behind the scenes, and thanked residents and community organizations such as Pride Houston 365, Greater Houston LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the Montrose Center and Jack Valinsky the president of the Super Neighborhood and a driving force\u00a0behind\u00a0the project. She said\u00a0Panzarella also carried the torch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe residents, Houstonians, really deserve the credit,\u201d Kamin said. \u201cWe asked how they would like to move forward and this is one of the suggestions that was brought to us. It really was a collaboration and partnership that reflects the best of what Houston is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council member Joe Panzarella said he wanted to \u201cgive a voice and provide a space\u201d for those who were frustrated with the removal of the Pride crosswalk. He said it\u2019s a \u201cfull circle moment\u201d \u2014\u00a0because the city found another way to celebrate LGBTQ+ pride after it was forced to remove the crosswalks under the state directive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is important to be able to show pride and show the joy in the LGBTQ+ community that has always been within Montrose,\u201d Panzarella said. \u201cWhile the state government may be prohibiting visual, colorful crosswalks, this is an opportunity for the city and for Montrose and the LGBTQ+ community to be able to be loud and proud.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Panzarella credits Kamin\u2019s office and Valinsky for getting the application to the mayor\u2019s desk and\u00a0helping bring the project to fruition.<\/p>\n
Panzarella said reviving the banner district \u2014 which had been dormant for years \u2014 also\u00a0emphasizes the community and the historical legacy of Montrose, the \u201cstrongest LGBTQ+ community in Houston.\u201d He said the goal is to expand the banner district beyond the current blocks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Where\u00a0Montrose\u2019s rainbow crosswalks once stood,\u00a0new rainbow banners will serve as indicators of LGBTQ+ pride: The city will install…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371541,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-371540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371540","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=371540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371540\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}