Dallas Strips Rainbow Crosswalks From Oak Lawn Under State Mandate

The community-funded rainbow crosswalks that have anchored Oak Lawn's identity as Dallas's historically LGBTQ+ neighborhood since 2020 will disappear.

City crews began stripping 30 decorated crosswalks across Dallas under a Texas Department of Transportation directive, following Gov. Greg Abbott's October 2025 order targeting non-standard pavement markings statewide. The crosswalks in Oak Lawn were gone by early afternoon. Black Lives Matter crosswalks in South Dallas and decorative designs in Uptown are next. Compliant markings are expected to be installed by April 28, per a city memo dated March 20.

"These crosswalks are being removed at a time when LGBTQ+ visibility is being challenged across Texas," said Tony Vedda, president of the LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce Foundation, in an official statement. "The business community stepped up to fund these crosswalks because representation matters — not just socially, but economically." The foundation raised $128,250 in 2020 and another $45,000 for a 2025 repaint—all private money—months before Abbott's order.

Dallas had sought an exemption; TxDOT denied it on Jan. 15, threatening to withhold federal and state project funding. The city's Office of Arts and Culture will hold community engagement sessions in April at Theater Three (April 6), the South Dallas Cultural Center (April 8), and Reverchon Recreation Center (April 10) to explore alternative neighborhood identity projects.

"The removal of a crosswalk does not erase a community," said Valerie Jackson, a small business owner and chair of the foundation's board, in the same statement. "It does not erase our history, our contributions, or our future."