The Trump administration has ceased flying a rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument, a decision that has sparked outrage among LGBTQ+ activists who view it as a deliberate symbolic affront to the nation's first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history. The multicolored banner, an internationally recognized emblem of LGBTQ+ rights, was quietly taken down in recent days from a flagpole at the National Park Service-managed site in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.
Policy Compliance or Political Statement?
The National Park Service asserts that the removal is merely an adherence to updated guidance clarifying longstanding flag policies, ensuring consistent application across all sites. A memorandum issued on January 21 largely limits the agency to displaying the flags of the United States, the Department of the Interior, and the POW/MIA flag. However, LGBTQ+ rights advocates, including activist Ann Northrop, vehemently reject this explanation.
"It's just a disgusting slap in the face," Northrop stated via telephone as news of the change circulated and plans for a Tuesday rally were underway. "It's mind-blowing that they think they can excuse this and rationalize this." While smaller rainbow flags remain along a fence at the site, activists had campaigned for years to see the prominent flag fly daily on federal property, viewing its initial raising in 2019 as a crucial gesture of official recognition.
Historical Significance and Ongoing Tensions
The monument centers on a small park opposite the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar where a 1969 rebellion against a police raid ignited the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The flag's removal marks the latest flashpoint in ongoing tensions between LGBTQ+ activists and the Trump administration regarding the monument, which was established by Democratic former President Barack Obama in 2016.
Activists recall previous irritations, such as the Park Service maintaining a bureaucratic distance from the flag-raising during Trump's first term. More recently, after Trump returned to office last year, the Stonewall monument's website was temporarily taken down following an executive order ending diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The administration later removed references to transgender people from the site.
Activists' Response and Federal Silence
Northrop, who co-hosts the weekly cable news program "GAY USA" and spoke at a flag-related ceremony at the monument in 2017, emphasized the symbolic importance. "That's why we have those flag-raisings — because we wanted the national sanction to make it a national park," she explained. The Park Service did not address specific inquiries on Tuesday regarding the Stonewall site or whether flags had been removed from other parks, instead issuing a generic statement: "Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site's historic significance through exhibits and programs."
Associated Press writer Matthew Daly contributed reporting from Washington, highlighting the national implications of this local controversy. The removal has intensified debates over representation and policy under the current administration, with advocates vowing to continue their fight for visible recognition at this historic landmark.
