OutSmart Magazine Earns National Journalism Award for Montrose Crosswalk Coverage
NLGJA recognized OutSmart’s reporting, photography, and design for a November 2025 feature package documenting Houston’s Pride, protest, and perseverance.
OutSmart magazine has been named a recipient of a 2026 Excellence in Journalism Award from NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, earning national recognition for its November 2025 feature package, “The Rainbows They Tried to Erase.”
The award, presented in the Excellence in Packaging, Print or Online category, honors OutSmart’s coverage of the removal of Houston’s rainbow crosswalks at Westheimer and Taft, a beloved Montrose landmark that became the center of outrage, grief, protest, and renewed community resolve.
The winning package included “Houston’s Rainbow Crosswalks Erased, but Pride Endures,” written by David Clarke and Brandon Wolf, with photography by Nora Dayton and Dalton DeHart, and creative direction by Alex Rosa. Published in the November 2025 issue, the story documented the early-morning removal of the crosswalks following Governor Greg Abbott’s order targeting “non-standardized” roadway designs, while placing that action within a larger struggle over visibility, local control, and LGBTQ equality in Texas.
For Houston’s LGBTQ community, the crosswalks were never just paint on pavement. They stood as public markers of remembrance, belonging, and the hard-won right to be seen in the heart of Montrose. Their removal did not quiet that visibility. Instead, it sparked protest, organizing, and a collective insistence that Pride cannot be washed away by power washers, policy language, or political theater.
Established in 1993, NLGJA’s Excellence in Journalism Awards recognize outstanding reporting on LGBTQ communities, people, and issues. This year’s honorees reflect the range, rigor, and urgency of queer journalism at a time when LGBTQ stories continue to demand clarity, context, and courage.
