Pride flag flies again at Stonewall National Monument in NYC after it was removed under federal guidance
The Pride flag is flying once again at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City after National Park Service staff took it down earlier this week.
The Park Service said it did so under federal guidance, which states non-agency flags cannot be officially displayed. The flag came down Sunday night or Monday morning and was replaced by an American flag, sparking outrage among New York politicians and residents.
Re-raising the Pride flag
Thursday afternoon, New Yorkers and elected officials raised the flag together at the monument in Greenwich Village.
"We are reclaiming our space. It's reclaiming our people. It's reclaiming our culture," NYC Pride Executive Director Im Lynde said. "The flag has so much meaning behind it. The colors represent the diversity of our community ... These are things that you can't take away from the community, which is why it's so important for us to raise it again."
"The government doesn't have to be punitive to us. They can leave the flag," Christopher Street volunteer Scott Elyanow said.
"The Trump administration is using symbolism and propaganda to try to erase history," congressional candidate Jack Schlossberg said.
"It's not erasing anything. It's pretending to erase," protester Julie Weinstein said.
Weinstein said she noticed many of the hundreds of people who came to the monument Thursday were of her own generation.
"This was our way of saying everything we fought for is gonna stay," she said.
The new flag was not sanctioned by the federal government. Nearly 60 years after the protest at Stonewall sparked the gay rights movement, raising this flag was an act of protest in itself.
"You're not going to mess with New York City queers," Lynde said. "We will come for you. We will fight back. This is our town."
Why was the Stonewall flag removed?
The Department of the Interior gave the directive to the National Park Service, according to a statement.
"Again, all government agencies follow longstanding federal flag policy that has been in place for decades. The United States Flag Code and the General Services Administration 41 CFR 102-74.415 give guidance regarding the display of flags on government flagpoles. Recent adjustments to flag displays at the monument were made to ensure consistency with federal guidance. Stonewall National Monument remains committed to preserving and interpreting the history and significance of this site through its exhibits, programs, and educational initiatives," a department spokesperson wrote, in part.
The department spokesperson called Thursday's flag-raising a "political stunt" and a "distraction" from issues such as the cold snap deaths, Brooklyn and Queens power outages and trash collection backup.
"Today's political pageantry shows how utterly incompetent and misaligned the New York City officials are with the problems their city is facing," the spokesperson wrote, in part.
The National Park Service and DOI did not answer our questions about if they would remove the new flag.
"This is an attack"
Hours before the flag raising, members from the New York City Council's LGBTQIA+ Caucus held a rally emphasizing not only history but what advocates call the need to protect LGBTQ+ visibility at a time of national debate.
"The most Stonewall thing we can do is put that flag back up ourselves," City Councilman Chi Ossé said.
"They want to erase us. We're not going anywhere," added Assemblymember Tony Simone, who represents various parts of Manhattan. "And by God, that flag will go back up. For every flag you take down, 10 more will go up."
"When the first brick was thrown in 1969, it caused hope to ripple all throughout the city," City Council Speaker Julie Menin said. "We sent a letter to the Park Service demanding the return of the flag."
"They are trying to destroy a collective memory. You can try to take away our touchstones, but we will not go away," City Councilmember Tiffany Caban said.
"This is not a fight that we asked for, but this is a fight that we will win," state Sen. Erik Bottcher said. "The rainbow flag is completely compatible with the American flag."
Many local and state politicians have weighed in on the flag's removal.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal were at the monument Wednesday.
"Taking down the Pride flag was just, it was mean-spirited. It's mean-spirited to a community that often feels under attack," Hochul said.
"If you can't fly the Pride flag at the national monument for Stonewall, where can you fly it? So, we are here because that flag has been removed, but it means so much to so many people, not just in New York but across the world," Hoylman-Sigal said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was outraged.
"New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history," Mamdani posted on social media.
Other flags were previously removed from the monument
The Stonewall National Monument is the country's first dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and history. It commemorates the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, sparked by police raids at the Stonewall Inn in 1969. The raids set off three days of protests and riots.
The move to re-raise the flag marked the next step in what's becoming a larger debate over federal policy and how historic landmarks are represented moving forward.
In early 2025, references to transgender and queer people were removed from the Stonewall National Monument due to an executive order signed by President Trump. The directive called for the federal government to define sex as only male or female.
Transgender flags were also removed from the monument at that time. In addition, the T and Q were struck from the LGBTQ acronym in various places on the website, replaced with "LGB rights movement" and "LGB civil rights."
