The removal of a large LGBTQ Pride flag from New York City’s Stonewall National Monument has ignited fresh controversy over federal policy and LGBTQ+ visibility under the Trump administration.
The National Park Service confirmed that the flag was taken down in accordance with new federal guidance governing which flags may be displayed on government-managed properties. The decision affects the Greenwich Village site widely regarded as the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
In a statement, the agency emphasized that the action was procedural rather than symbolic. “Under government-wide guidance, including General Services Administration policy and Department of the Interior direction, only the U.S. flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags are flown on NPS-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions. Any changes to flag displays are made to ensure consistency with that guidance. Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance through exhibits and programs,” the National Park Service said.
Local leaders and LGBTQ+ advocates were quick to condemn the move, framing it as part of a broader effort to marginalize queer history. New York City Councilmember Erik Bottcher and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine both criticized the removal, while Councilmember Julie Menin issued one of the strongest rebukes.
“Stonewall is sacred ground. It is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and the removal of the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument is a deliberate and cowardly attempt to erase that history. This is an attack on LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, and we will not stand for it. Our history will not be rewritten, and our rights will not be rolled back,” Menin said.
The flag’s removal follows a series of earlier changes at the monument tied to an executive order President Trump signed on his first day in office directing the federal government to define sex strictly as male or female. As a result, references to transgender and queer people were removed from official Stonewall materials, the letters T and Q were eliminated from LGBTQ references on the monument’s website, and transgender flags were previously taken down from the site.
Despite the changes at the federally managed monument, LGBTQ+ groups stress that Stonewall’s cultural meaning remains intact. The Stonewall Inn and its visitor centers, which are privately owned, continue to display Pride flags and host community events.
“Bad news for the Trump administration: these colors don’t run. The Stonewall Inn & Visitors Centers are still privately owned, their flags are still flying high, and that community is still just as queer today as it was yesterday. While their policy agenda throws the country into chaos, the Trump administration is obsessed with trying to suffocate the joy and pride that Americans have for their communities,” said Human Rights Campaign national press secretary Brandon Wolf. “For over a year, they’ve been on a witch hunt, targeting rainbow crosswalks, pride flags, Black Lives Matter murals, and throwing a tantrum about a Super Bowl performance they couldn’t control. But they will fail. We will keep showing up at Stonewall, for each other, and being out and proud. There’s nothing the White House can do about that.”
Designated in 2016, the Stonewall National Monument remains the first national monument in U.S. history dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and history. While debates over federal policy continue, advocates say the fight over symbols underscores a larger struggle over who gets represented in America’s public spaces.
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