Community Leaders Seek Lower Westheimer Banner Revival

In a recorded video message released May 20, 2026, retiring Houston City Councilmember Abbie Kamin, standing with community leaders Jack Valinski and Kerry-Ann Morrison, announced an effort to revive the Lower Westheimer Banner District, as a response to last year’s forced removal of an iconic rainbow crosswalk at Taft and Westheimer.

 “As many of you may remember,” says Kamin, “several months ago, Governor Abbott came for our crosswalk, which not only was an absurd attack on local control, it was intended to, in a bigoted way, target our diverse communities that make Houston, and quite frankly, all of Texas, what it is.”

 Houston’s banner districts are specific corridors officially approved by City Council to display promotional and decorative street banners on metal utility poles. Examples include the Houston Design District in west Houston, the Houston Southeast Cultural Arts & Entertainment District, and the Downtown Houston District. The proposed new banners for the Lower Westheimer district would hang along a route from Taft to Montrose.

 Valinksi, former head of Pride Houston, says, “This district was created around 2003, and it was used for many years, but forgotten about when the parade moved downtown. Now we want to bring it back because Montrose is the historic part of our community.” He indicated that the district name has always been owned by the organization that is now known as Pride Houston 365 and that the banners were always Pride-oriented, hung in advance of Houston’s annual Pride Month celebration.

 “District C has funded the fabrication of the banners that will be hanging,” Kamin continues. “This is a way to not only stand with our LGBTQIA+ community but stand for the diversity that makes our city so great.” 

Since last October, Kamin has been collaborating with community leaders, including representatives of The Montrose Center and the Greater Houston LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce.

 “We have followed every process, every approval to make sure that this can happen in accordance with the standard rules and regulations laid out by the City of Houston. The only thing left is for the mayor’s office to approve this design. It’s under review, but this is a standard process,” Kamin notes.

 “I think it’s important to the community to have a district that represents who we are and all of the strides and the struggles that we’ve encountered and overcome in order to get where we are,” states Morrison, who is president of Pride Houston 365. “It’s very important that we get this going and get this done.”

Watch the announcement: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1EB3Nzpx3S/