HOUSTON – Houston's city hall has been lit up like a rainbow in honor of Pride Week, but not everyone in the city is proud of the display.
The Houston Area Pastor Council is raising questions about the city's decisions to illuminate the building.
"City hall belongs to the people of the city of Houston," said Dave Welch with the HAPC. "Mayor Annise Parker does not have the latitude to use it as a shrine to worship the GLBT lifestyle. It's not something that represents the people. It's something that is highly controversial."
In 2011, thousands of people turned out in support of gay pride and marched in the parade. Mayor Parker participated and plans to do the same this year as well.
In fact, the president of Houston's GLBT political caucus told KPRC Local 2 that more than 200,000 people are expected to show up for Pride Week, and most of them also support the lights.
"We are part of the community; we're part of the Houstonian community. We're just like everybody else and it gives us an opportunity to come out and celebrate how far we've come," said Noel Freeman with Houston's GLBT political caucus.
Janice Evans, Director of Communication for the office of the mayor issued a statement regarding the rainbow lights.
"We don't discriminate. A new lighting system was acquired for city hall about a year ago. It is utilized to recognize various events and organizations. It was pink to mark the Race for the Cure, green for the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts, orange for the Dynamo and red, white and blue for Independence Day and the Texans when they were in the playoffs. It will be red, white and blue again on July 4 this year. The lighting of city hall in recognition of Pride Week shows our tolerance for diversity and, like the other examples cited, recognizes a major event that is important to many in our community."