Photos by Nicholas Clemente BFM Boss Formula Media
The Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District and the Oakland LGBTQ Center on November 13, 2025, unveiled an historic new rainbow crosswalk. The occasion was marked with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting ceremony and walk. The center’s Co-Founders Joe Hawkins and Jeff Myers, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, iHeart Radio DJ Christie James, the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus, The Pied Piper, community leader Lisa Williams, and many other local leaders and allies were present.
“Our rainbow crosswalk will not be the traditional paint job; it marks the first time that a thermoplastic permanent rainbow crosswalk has been installed in Oakland, which is a more durable/lower maintenance, and longer lasting application that is able to handle heavy traffic on the street. It’s a declaration,” said Myers, who is also Chair of the Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District Committee. “It tells every trans, queer, and non-binary person who visits our LGBTQ district that they are welcome, seen, safe, and celebrated right here in Oakland.”
Countering Trump Administration Anti-LGBTQ+ Efforts
Earlier this year, the federal government began scrubbing words and acronyms associated with the LGBTQ community like LGBTQ, transgender, and queer, from its websites and directed all federally-funded programs to do the same or risk losing their contracts with the federal government.
In July 2025, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sent a letter to all 50 states, citing safety concerns and urging the removal of “distracting” pavement markings, including non-standard designs like rainbow crosswalks.
As a result, rainbow crosswalks have been removed in several U.S. cities, most notably in Florida and Texas. While some local officials argue the removals are about safety and federal standards, LGBTQ+ advocates view the federal directive as a political tactic intended to erase symbols of LGBTQ pride and visibility.
Over Two Decades of Visibility
The first permanent rainbow crosswalk was installed in 2012 on San Vicente Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. Since then, dozens of cities across the nation and around the world have commissioned local artists to create similar tributes to the LGBTQ+ community. Here in the Bay Area, San Francisco was the first to install multiple permanent rainbow crosswalks in 2014, followed by San Jose in 2016, and the city of San Leandro installed their permanent rainbow crosswalk in 2019.
Oakland previously had two non-permanent rainbow crosswalks painted: the first in front of the White Horse Inn, one of the oldest queer bars in the country; and the second at the former site of Oakland Pride at 20th and Franklin streets. The latter was fading and dug up during a recent major street construction project. Given the recent installation within the Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District, however, Oakland has one of the most visible and vibrant rainbow crosswalks in the region, where similar crosswalks can be found in five of the nine Bay Area counties.
Video of the November 13 ribbon-cutting ceremony and walk may be viewed at: https://bit.ly/4rryiNs
Published on December 4, 2025
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