“We cannot allow the government to erase historical facts,” said Stacey Lentz, one of the bar’s current owners. She had not received advance notice from the government that the flag would be removed.
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WASHINGTON – First, we removed the “T” from LGBTQ+.
Now they have lowered the rainbow flag.
The Trump administration has removed the large Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. It comes just weeks after the government released federal guidance on the types of flags allowed to be flown in national parks.
Volunteers caring for the monument noticed that the rainbow flag had been removed on Monday, February 9th. The flag was flying from a pole in a park across from the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village.
“Removing the rainbow flag from Stonewall National Monument once again targets what is a sacred site to our community and is yet another attempt at erasure by an administration that has relentlessly attacked the LGBTQ+ community since taking office,” said Kathy Lena, spokesperson for the National LGBTQ Task Force.
The National Park Service said in a statement provided to USA TODAY that, with limited exceptions, only the U.S. flag and other approved flags are allowed to fly on flagpoles managed by the service. Exemptions may include flags that provide historical context, flags of current military branches, and flags of federally recognized tribal nations.
“Changes to the flag display are made to ensure consistency with that guidance,” the statement said.
The removal of the flag, internationally recognized as a symbol of the gay rights movement and its hard-fought victories through years of struggle, outraged activists as well as city and state leaders.
“New York City is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change or silence that history. Our city has an obligation not only to honor this heritage, but to live up to it,” New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani said in a statement posted to X.
New York Governor Cathy Hochul called the decision a “shameful attempt to erase LGBTQ history.”
“I will not let this administration roll back the rights we fought so hard to win,” she said in a message posted to X.
Stonewall National Monument commemorates the early morning clashes between police and members of the LGBTQ+ community on June 28, 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn. For six days, gay men and women, transgender people, bikers, street kids and others were tired of police harassment and fought back. The riot is believed to be the spark that ignited the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
The Stonewall Riots are considered such an important chapter in American history that President Barack Obama designated the bar’s exterior, adjacent park, and surrounding streets as a national monument in 2016, ensuring that what happened there and the people involved in it would never be forgotten. The bar itself remains privately owned.
The Stonewall Memorial is the only site in the national park dedicated to LGBTQ+ history, making its preservation even more meaningful to activists and historians.
“This is a sacred space,” said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman Segal. He recalled that when he moved to New York City 30 years ago, the first place he visited was Stonewall. “Its importance to generations of LGBTQ people around the world cannot be overestimated.”
Stacey Lentz, one of the bar’s current owners, said she was not notified in advance by the government that the flag would be removed.
“We cannot allow the government to erase historical facts,” she said. “This isn’t even about politics as a whole. This is about history, and that history has to be preserved.”
“Stonewall taught us that our history will not survive if we do not protect it,” she added.
The flag’s removal marks the second time the Trump administration has targeted the monument in the past year.
Early last year, just weeks after President Donald Trump took office for the second time, his administration removed all references to transgender people from the monument’s website, angering LGBTQ+ activists. The administration said the change was in line with Trump’s broader campaign to recognize the existence of just two genders, male and female, and combat what he called “gender ideology.”
Following the decision, more than 1,000 protesters took part in a rally to support the transgender community and challenge the government’s actions. Another rally is scheduled for Tuesday night, February 10, to send a message to the administration not to mess with the park and its history.
Hoylman-Segal and other state and community leaders are also planning another event for Thursday, February 12, when they will once again raise flags in parks in defiance of the Trump administration.
“Just like in 1969, this is a flashpoint for standing up for what you believe is right,” Hoylman-Sigal said.
Michael Collins writes about the intersection of politics and culture. He is a veteran reporter who has covered the White House and Congress. Follow him on X: @mcollinsNEWS
