The cities resisting rainbow bans

In a very early episode of the vintage cartoon series Rainbow Brite, a terror befalls Rainbowland in the form of a thief. 

For those unfamiliar, Rainbow Brite and her friends — Starlight, Twink and the Color Kids — live to protect Rainbowland "so that they can bring color and happiness to people everywhere," so the narrator informs us. But Murky Dismal, the series’ comically small and sickly-looking villain, has other plans: to steal Rainbow Brite’s magic belt and take all the colors out of the world to make everyone gloomy. "If I destroy color," he exclaims with glee, "I’ll destroy happiness and hope!!" 

The episode may have run in 1984, but it watches like a heavy-handed allegory for urban America today. Last year, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a letter to all 50 states demanding the removal of "political messages or artwork" from their roadways. Rainbow crosswalks disappeared overnight across the country, from Orlando to Austin and beyond, as jurisdictions feared losing transportation funding. Utah and Idaho banned "unofficial" flags — including Pride flags — from government buildings and schools. As though the country has been blanketed in a state-sanctioned fog of Murky Dismal’s signature "gloom cloud" formula, rainbows have blinked out from America’s streetscapes from coast to coast. 

But, just like in Rainbowland, resistance is afoot as cities use the powers they have to re-rainbow streetscapes on their own terms. While states may control roadways, cities control sidewalks, street furniture and much more. In honor of Pride this year, here are a few examples of cities bringing color back in the form of rainbow resistance. 

San Antonio’s rainbow sidewalks 

Rainbow crosswalks started disappearing from San Antonio streets this year after Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Texas Department of Transportation to remove them or risk the city losing millions in funding. But Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, a gay City Council member, quickly had an idea for resistance: paint the sidewalks — which are not under state jurisdiction — instead.  

St. Petersburg’s rainbow bike racks

After Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida DOT demanded the removal of rainbow crosswalks statewide, many cities resisted. But St. Petersburg went one step further, installing 11 Pride-inspired bike racks along Central Ave and 25th Street, funded by the city’s long-standing public bike rack program. 

Salt Lake and Boise’s new "official" flags 

Banned from displaying unofficial flags on government property, Utah and Idaho’s state capitals, Salt Lake City and Boise adopted a surprisingly simple workaround: they made Pride flags official. Or, to be more specific, Boise made the traditional Pride flag one of its official flags while Salt Lake went a step further and adopted three new flags with the city’s traditional sego lily design imposed over a Pride flag, a trans flag and a Juneteenth commemoration flag.