Legacy of Love Monument

The Legacy of Love Monument is a public sculpture installed on 25 June 2005 at the intersection of Cedar Springs Road and Oak Lawn Avenue — the southern gateway to Dallas's Oak Lawn queer commercial neighbourhood. It was the first US municipal public sculpture specifically recognising a gay neighbourhood, installed by the City of Dallas at a total project cost of $250,000 funded jointly by the city and the Oak Lawn business community. The sculpture by Suzanne Levitt is a 20-foot rainbow-coloured stainless-steel obelisk on a red-brick plaza. The obelisk's rainbow banding was chosen to be visible from the Cedar Springs Road commercial strip; the plaza base carries a bronze plaque with the dedication text (*"To the men and women who created this community"*), rainbow-tiled pavement segments, and low seating. The whole ensemble occupies approximately 400 square feet at the visually-central southern entrance to the neighbourhood. The monument's significance is that it made Oak Lawn the second US municipally-recognised gay neighbourhood after Chicago's Boystown (whose rainbow pylons were installed in 1998, see the Chicago entry). Dallas's recognition preceded any other US Southern-city recognition; the political context was substantial given that Texas state law had criminalised homosexual acts until 2003 (when Lawrence v. Texas struck the state sodomy statute at the Supreme Court, in a case whose plaintiff was a Houston Texan). Free, 24/7 as public sidewalk. Cityplace/Uptown DART station is a 15-minute walk. On any Dallas Oak Lawn queer heritage day this is the natural starting point — combine with a walk north up Cedar Springs Road to the Round-Up Saloon and Cathedral of Hope for the full 2-mile heritage circuit.