New York City officials raised a rainbow Pride flag outside the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village on Thursday, Feb. 12, after the Trump administration had it removed from the site.
Elected leaders and advocates gathered at the monument to denounce the administration’s broader directives targeting diversity and inclusion efforts. The Stonewall National Monument—established in 2016 at the site of the Stonewall Inn—commemorates a pivotal chapter in the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
“The most Stonewall thing that we could possibly do is put that flag back up ourselves instead of waiting for the president,” City Councilmember Chi Ossé, a co-chair of the City Council’s LGBTQ+ caucus, said at the event.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said the flag would be raised again at 4 p.m. local time in honor of those who fought for LGBTQ+ equality and helped guide future generations.
Councilmember Julie Menin said the flag was removed “in the middle of the night,” adding that there was no discussion or warning.
Reports from multiple outlets said the administration ordered the flag’s removal on Jan. 21.
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The monument marks the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement and commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising—a six-day stretch of protests that followed police raids at the nearby Stonewall Inn, a bar that served as a refuge for LGBTQ+ patrons at a time when homosexuality was illegal. The uprising is widely seen as a catalyst for the modern gay liberation movement and helped inspire annual Pride marches held each June across the United States.
Hoylman-Sigal, who became New York City’s first openly gay borough president on Jan. 1, wrote online that, “They cannot erase our history. Our Pride flag will be raised again.”
In a statement issued earlier this week, the National Park Service cited government-wide guidance, saying only the U.S. flag and other congressionally or department-authorized flags are flown on agency-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions. The agency said changes to flag displays are made to align with that guidance, while maintaining exhibits and programs that interpret the site’s history.
Timothy Leonard, a Northeast program manager with the National Parks Conservation Association, said the Pride flag’s presence at Stonewall is central to the story the monument represents, arguing it is part of the site’s living history and should remain.
