Jago Times "English Edition" Best Online Newspaper
The City of Dallas is installing street toppers to honor the late gay rights and housing activist Don Maison, who died in February following a cancer diagnosis.
The street toppers — a decorative sign with an honorary street name — will be installed on top of the existing street signs Aug. 8. Draft renderings of the design say “In Honor of Don Maison” with a blue background and white lettering.
The city is installing the street toppers at three intersections along Marsalis Avenue at Sabine Street, Colorado Boulevard and Comal Street. They will be located near the AIDS Services of Dallas, or ASD, property Hillcrest House.
Maison was the president and CEO of ASD for decades. The organization now houses, among other services, more than 300 men, women, children and families who are living with HIV/AIDS or are impacted by it.
City code usually requires a person to have been dead for at least two years before receiving ceremonial street naming, according to Dallas Development Code. But City Council members Omar Narvaez, Chad West and Gay Donnell Willis worked to initiate the process and suspend that requirement with a three-signature memo addressed to the Cit Manager’s Office, according to city officials.
Narvaez said in an email he believes these street toppers are the first to honor a person from the LGBTQ+ community in Dallas’ history.
“Don deserves to be remembered for eternity in Dallas. He didn’t just talk the talk — he screamed it out loud until folks heard him and walked with him,” Narvaez said via email. “I miss my dear friend Don and know he is resting in power.”
“I think we’ve learned going into the pandemic just about imagery and how history is important … regarding our monuments in the city,” Livingston said. “I think it’s important for us to try to acknowledge the positive things, but also [understand] the historical context.”
Livingston said Maison was a champion, advocating for affordable housing and raising awareness about the barriers that people who are low-income with HIV and AIDS face.
“His vision and advocacy really stretched nationally [and] internationally,” Livingston said. “He was a true leader in a sense of just being yourself and eliminating stigma and supporting and providing an open door for all.”
David Taffet is a senior staff writer for Dallas Voice, an outlet for LGBTQ+ news. Taffet knew Maison for about 30 years because they both worked in the community sector during the rise of the AIDS epidemic.
Taffet said Maison was persistent — he would always get things done. Maison, for example, represented men who were barred from working as Southwest Airlines flight attendants in 1981. “That’s the reason that you [now] see male flight attendants on Southwest,” Taffet said. “Some of the cases that Don handled have a lasting legacy to this day.”
Taffet said it wasn’t a question that the city respected Maison and the toppers are a “wonderful way” to honor him.
“My favorite thing about him was whenever … we’d have lunch at one of his facilities, he knew something about each and every resident,” Taffet said. “He respected them and cared about them and loved them, and they loved him back.”