District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur, center, prepares to cut a ribbon celebrating the opening of San Antonio’s new rainbow sidewalk. Credit: Instagram / drsukhd1

Rainbow-covered pavement made its triumphant return to San Antonio’s Pride Cultural District on Sunday.

Officials cut the ribbon on new LGBTQ+ Pride sidewalks in the heart of the city’s gay nightlife strip. The walkways extend one block north and one block south of the intersection of North Main Avenue and Evergreen Street, where the city’s original rainbow crosswalk was located.

The sidewalks cost the city around $170,000, and funding came from the Fiscal 2026 budget and “Task Order contracts approved by City Council in 2024 and 2025,” city spokesperson Brian Chasnoff previously told the Current.

Spearheaded by District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur, the sidewalks were painted in response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s order last October directing the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to ensure cities and counties removed any roadway art that “advances political agendas” and “ideologies.”

However, Abbott’s decree didn’t mention anything about sidewalks, which are typically city property in Texas and not subject to TxDOT oversight.

“We might have had to do what the state wants on their property,” Kaur told KSAT at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “But we’re doing what we want on our property.”

District 7 Councilwoman Marina Alderete Gavito and District 8 Councilwoman Ivalis Meza Gonzalez also attended Sunday’s event.

The since-removed rainbow crosswalks, which were privately funded and maintained, graced the intersection of N. Main and Evergreen since 2018.

Although decorating roadways are out of the question under Abbott’s order, Kaur told KSAT she’s looking for other ways to support Pride-oriented artwork along Main Strip.

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...