NYC officials pledge to raise Pride flag at Stonewall after Trump orders removal
Credit: Mitch Altman on Flickr
New York City officials have vowed to restore the large Pride flag that flies above the Stonewall National Monument after the Trump administration removed it earlier this week. The flag was taken down Monday by the National Park Service (NPS), which has overseen the site since it was designated a national monument by former President Barack Obama in 2016. The agency told Gay City News that the removal was required under policy permitting only the U.S. flag and other “congressionally or departmentally authorized flags” to fly on NPS flagpoles, despite the site’s recognition as the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, which the Pride flag symbolizes.
Under guidance issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) on January 21, the NPS may fly “only the US Flag, flags of the DOI, and the POW/MIA flag.” The policy includes limited exceptions for flags that “provide historical context, such as earlier version of the U.S. flag at a historic fort, or are part of historic reenactments or living history programs.”
The flag’s removal comes years after a similar dispute during Trump’s first term, when he canceled plans to dedicate a Rainbow flag at the monument, arguing that the flagpole stood on city, not federal, land. The decision sparked a years-long effort by activists to preserve the flag’s presence at the site.
During the Biden administration, advocates successfully pushed the federal government to allow a Pride flag to fly on federal land within the park, according to Gay City News.
The move also follows last year’s decision by the NPS to remove transgender references from its Stonewall National Monument webpage. In February 2025, the agency deleted the words “transgender” and “queer” from the LGBTQ+ acronym on the site. The change came after a series of executive actions by Trump rolling back transgender rights, including banning trans people from women’s sports, the military, and minors from receiving gender-affirming care.
Months later, the NPS also removed several references to the word “bisexual” from the webpage. Last year, the Trump administration discontinued the existing Pride flag design—which featured black and brown stripes and Trans flag colors—and permitted only the standard Pride flag to fly on the flagpole.
Numerous city officials have criticized the administration’s decision, calling it an attempt to erase LGBTQ history.
In a joint statement to Gay City News, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Sen. Erik Bottcher, and Assembly Member Deborah Glick said the Pride flag represents “history, resistance, and Pride born at Stonewall itself.”
They added, “Taking it down does not diminish our community. It exposes an administration afraid of visibility and truth. Our history will not be erased, and our Pride is not theirs to take down.”
Hoylman-Sigal said that he was working to raise the flag again at the site, despite federal guidance, as reported by CNN.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani also expressed “outrage” over the flag’s removal in a post on X, writing: “New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history.”
He continued, “Our city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to live up to it. I will always fight for a New York City that invests in our LGBTQ+ community, defends their dignity, and protects every one of our neighbors—without exception.”
The City Council sent a letter to the Trump administration urging the NPS to return the Pride flag to the monument immediately. The letter also demands an explanation for its removal and details steps the agency should take to ensure the Stonewall National Monument continues to reflect the truth of its history and the LGBTQ community.
“Stonewall is a sacred ground in the history of civil rights in our country,” the letter reads. “The events that took place there catalyzed a global movement for dignity, equality, and freedom — guiding principles upon which our nation was founded.”
It continues, “In the year of the U.S.’s 250th anniversary, American monuments like Stonewall matter more than ever. This is a moment to honor, celebrate, and uplift American culture and history. This decision sends a deeply troubling message, one that shows the world that we are willing to sanitize and erase our history and the very values that make America great.”
Located next to the historic Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, the monument commemorates the June 28, 1969 police raid that sparked three days of protests and became the catalyst for the national LGBTQ+ rights movement, as 6sqft previously reported.
In 2016, former President Barack Obama designated the site, including the bar, Christopher Park, and the surrounding streets as a national monument.
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