Trump administration takes down a rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument

The Trump administration has removed the rainbow flag from the Stonewall National Monument, provoking strong criticism from LGBTQ+ activists who view the action as a symbolic affront to the nation’s first monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history.

The rainbow flag, globally recognized as a symbol of LGBTQ+ rights and pride, was recently taken down from a federally managed flagpole at the monument, which is located in a small park in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The site holds profound historical significance, situated directly across from the Stonewall Inn, the legendary gay bar where a 1969 uprising against police harassment became a watershed moment in the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Officials from the National Park Service have defended the removal, citing a January 21 memo that restricts the agency to flying only the U.S. flag, the Department of the Interior flag, and the POW/MIA flag at its facilities. They maintain this policy is simply a clarification of longstanding regulations that are now being applied consistently across all park service properties.

LGBTQ+ advocates, however, reject this explanation, viewing it instead as a deliberate slight against the community. Ann Northrop, co-host of the cable news program “GAY USA,” called the decision “a disgusting slap in the face.” Northrop, who spoke at a flag ceremony at the monument in 2017, emphasized the significance of the flag’s presence on federal property, noting, “That’s why we have those flag-raisings—because we wanted the national sanction to make it a national park.”

The controversy has mobilized local officials and community members, who have organized rallies in response. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the first openly LGBTQ+ person to hold his position, described the removal as “petty and vindictive,” adding that while “removing a flag seems extremely pedestrian,” the symbolism of doing so at Stonewall is “profoundly disappointing and frightening.”

While a rainbow flag continues to fly on a city-owned pole just outside the park boundaries, and smaller flags adorn the park’s fence, advocates argue that the flag’s presence on federal property carried special significance. The National Parks Conservation Association has joined the criticism, stating that the flag is integral to the monument’s history and should remain in place.

This incident marks the latest in a series of tensions between LGBTQ+ activists and the Trump administration regarding the Stonewall monument. Created by President Barack Obama in 2016, the monument became a point of contention during Trump’s first term when the Park Service maintained what activists perceived as a bureaucratic distance from flag-raising ceremonies on city property.

More recently, following President Trump’s return to office and his declaration that his administration would recognize only two genders, references to transgender people were removed from the Park Service website for the Stonewall monument.

The flag removal also comes amid broader reviews by the Trump administration of interpretive materials at national parks, museums, and landmarks. These reviews aim to remove or alter descriptions that, in the government’s view, “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.”

When asked about the Stonewall site specifically, the Park Service declined to answer detailed questions about the flag policy or whether flags had been removed from other parks. In a statement, the agency simply said, “Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance through exhibits and programs.”

As the controversy unfolds, the rainbow flag continues to serve as both a symbol of pride and a flashpoint in ongoing debates about recognition and representation of LGBTQ+ history and rights in America’s public spaces.