"In the early hours of Monday morning, police officers and work crews descended on Houston's Montrose neighborhood to remove a rainbow-painted crosswalk that had long stood as both a symbol of queer pride and a memorial to a young man killed at the intersection, Chron . The move, carried out quietly before dawn, followed an escalating standoff over the future of LGBTQ+ visibility in public spaces across ."
"Shortly after 2 a.m., city contractors arrived at the intersection of Westheimer Road and Taft Street with a cold-planing machine and a convoy of trucks. They were met by a small group of protesters who had gathered after hearing from local advocacy groups that the crosswalk's removal was imminent, ABC affiliate KHOU . Demonstrators sat on the rainbow stripes, waved flags, played guitar, and sang songs by Radiohead and R.E.M. as Houston METRO and police officers closed off the intersection."
"By 3:20 a.m., Houston Police's Special Response Group had fenced in the demonstrators and issued three dispersal warnings. When no one moved, officers began making arrests - three in total, including activist and city council candidate Ethan Hale, Chron reports. The crosswalk, installed in 2017 after 21-year-old Alex Hill was killed in a hit-and-run at the intersection, had become both a neighborhood landmark and a reflection of Montrose's deep history, according to the paper."
City contractors and police removed a rainbow-painted crosswalk in Houston's Montrose neighborhood in the early hours of Monday. Contractors arrived shortly after 2 a.m. at Westheimer Road and Taft Street with a cold-planing machine and a convoy of trucks. A small group of protesters sat on the rainbow stripes, waved flags, played guitar, and sang as Houston METRO and police closed off the intersection. By 3:20 a.m., Houston Police's Special Response Group fenced demonstrators, issued dispersal warnings, and arrested three people, including activist and council candidate Ethan Hale. The crosswalk was installed in 2017 after 21-year-old Alex Hill was killed in a hit-and-run and had become a neighborhood landmark; a city council member called the nocturnal removal shameful. Similar rainbow-crosswalk removals are occurring in multiple Republican-led states following guidance from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Read at Advocate.com
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