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The City of San Antonio is temporarily stopping its plans to paint 6-foot rainbow sidewalks along Main Avenue due to a joint lawsuit filed against the city by the organizer of the pride parade and a conservative group.
The suit, filed by Pride San Antonio and Texas Conservative Liberty Forum, asks for a temporary restraining order to prevent the city from: removing the rainbow crosswalk that was installed in 2018; painting rainbow sidewalks along Main Avenue; and using any city funds for the process.
San Antonio's City Attorney Andy Segovia said in a statement that "the suit claims the work on the crosswalk and sidewalks require a Council vote to authorize the work."
“City Council authorized public works funds in its approval of the FY 2026 budget and those funds are being used for both activities,” Segovia said. “A preliminary hearing is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. The City believes the Plaintiffs’ suit is without merit. The City is pausing the work in progress on painting of the sidewalks given the litigation."
The sidewalk installation is expected to cost about $170,000 according to a city memo earlier this week.
On Thursday, San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh sent a memo to council members saying the city was contacted by local attorney Justin Nichols — who represents both groups.
“He intends to file suit on behalf of both entities seeking to enjoin the removal of the painted crosswalks and to prevent the painting of sidewalks. In addition, we have Council members raising concerns about the painting of sidewalks,” Walsh said. “Consequently, I have put a pause on the painting of the sidewalks until we have the opportunity to brief the Council in an Executive Session and to continue working with the LGBTQ+ Advisory Board and the community on implementation. We will maintain our schedule for removing the painted crosswalk.”
At least two council members, Marc Whyte and Misty Spears have opposed using city money for the project. District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur, whose district contains the Pride Cultural Heritage District, said she believes the majority of council would support the initiative.
“It is unfortunate that because of this lawsuit, we're having to pause, but I am very determined to make sure that we as soon as possible can have a meeting, because some of my colleagues did post a press release that they were upset about this, but we still, I believe, do have the majority of us that want this to move forward," Kaur said. "We want this first LGBTQ plus cultural heritage district in Texas to have representation of what it means for our community.”
The plaintiffs' Attorney Justin Nichols told TPR on Thursday the lawsuit was about process, adding the city and its Public Works Department don’t have the authority to move forward with appropriating funds for this project without council approval.
“Public Works has a definition in our city charter, and it's limited to construction, design, installation and maintenance of streets and sidewalks and related items. This is not those things. Just because something or an activity happens to be on a public road doesn't mean the city has an unlimited slush fund from which unelected bureaucrats can decide how to spend those funds,” Nichols said. “So public works is for a very limited purpose. They have decided to make artistic enhancements to the sidewalk, which is not within the purview of public works unless it's adopted and approved by city council.”
Pride San Antonio raised $19,800 in 2018 to install the crosswalk at Evergreen and Main. Council approved its installation. Pride San Antonio is the main organizer of the city’s annual pride parade in the summer.
Since the October 2025 directive from TxDOT to remove the rainbow crosswalk, James Poindexter, the organization's board secretary and a plaintiff, has urged the city to fight the state to keep it.
Poindexter told TPR Thursday night that if the city wants to remove the crosswalk, it would need to do so by ordinance.
“We don't want the city to just have a show that they support the LGBT community. We need them to prove that they support the LGBT community,” Poindexter said. “And one way that they can prove it is to go on record. If the city council does not want the crosswalk anymore, they need to each one go on record and vote to rescind the ordinance that was created unanimously by council to officially say we're caving to Abbott's memo.”
In the court filing, the Texas Conservative Liberty Forum San Antonio chapter is listed as an unincorporated association that formed in 2025. It says its members are San Antonio citizens, whose mission is to promote “conservative values of limited government and personal responsibility, and in the freedom of conscience and full equality under constitutional law for all citizens.” Its president, Joe Garza, is listed as a plaintiff as well.
When asked why Pride San Antonio was working with TCLF, Poindexter said the two organizations had similar goals about the transparency of city council and that both are clients of Nichols.
The city’s LGBTQIA Advisory Board issued a statement saying Pride San Antonio’s partnership with this group was disappointing, referring to TCLF as a “radical right-wing group with a known record of opposing gender affirming care, same sex marriage, and discrimination protections for the LGBTQ+ community.”
“The LGBTQ+ Advisory Board is disappointed to learn that Pride San Antonio has partnered with the Texas Conservative Liberty Forum to sue the City of San Antonio to stop work on the highly-anticipated rainbow sidewalks project. The Advisory Board consulted extensively with the City on both the design and timeline of the rainbow sidewalk installation, and it is our position that work on the sidewalk project should continue,” the statement said.
A hearing is planned for 2 p.m. on Friday at the Bexar County Courthouse in presiding court.
