Protestors arrested in the middle of the night as Greg Abbott forces removal of rainbow crosswalkshttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/10/protestors-arrested-in-the-middle-of-the-night-as-greg-abbott-forces-removal-of-rainbow-crosswalks/ 🔗Alex Bollinger (20 Oct 2025)
Houston Police arrested protesters as the demonstrators tried to stop road crews from paving over rainbow crosswalks in the city's Montrose neighborhood.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) ordered cities to remove street art like Pride crosswalks earlier this month, saying that they represent "political ideologies." That is not true; the Pride flag represents LGBTQ+ people, a class of people made up of individuals from across the political spectrum. The announcement came after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy asked state governors to remove "political messages" from roadways.
Crews showed up late on Sunday to remove the crosswalks at Westheimer and Taft in Houston, starting work at 2:30 a.m. local time. Protestors gathered as the workers began and put barriers in place to keep the protestors out of the street. Several protestors crossed the barrier and stood on the crosswalk to stop its removal, and Houston Police arrested them by 4 a.m. local time.
These specific rainbow crosswalks carry special meaning, as protestors explained that they were installed as a memorial for a person who died at the intersection in a hit-and-run several years ago.
"This is more than just the LGBT community," protestor Ethan Hale told KHOU 11.
Protestors spent the night drawing on the sidewalk in chalk and standing vigil as workers removed the crosswalk and applied a new coat of asphalt.
