A Pride flag has been removed from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City following guidance issued by President Donald Trump’s administration.
According to reports from The New York Times and CBS News, the removal order was issued on Jan. 21.
Located in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, the monument marks the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement. The site commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, a six-day series of protests sparked by police raids at the nearby Stonewall Inn. The uprising is widely regarded as a turning point that helped ignite the modern gay liberation movement and led to the tradition of annual Pride marches across the United States.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who became New York’s first openly gay borough president on Jan. 1, addressed the development in a public statement.
“They cannot erase our history,” Hoylman-Sigal wrote. “Our Pride flag will be raised again. Stay tuned.”
In a joint statement alongside other local LGBTQ+ lawmakers, Hoylman-Sigal described the decision as “a deliberate act of erasure.”
“The Pride Flag is history, resistance, and pride born at Stonewall itself,” the statement read. “Taking it down does not diminish our community. It exposes an administration afraid of visibility and truth. Our history will not be erased, and our pride is not theirs to take down.”
The statement was co-signed by State Senator Erik Bottcher, Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, and Assemblyman Tony Simone.
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The National Park Service said the change was made to comply with federal policy.
“Only the U.S. flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags are flown on NPS-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions,” the agency said. “Any changes to flag displays are made to ensure consistency with that guidance.”
The agency added that the Stonewall National Monument “continues to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance through exhibits and programs.”
The monument holds historic significance as the first site in U.S. history dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights. It was designated a national monument by former President Barack Obama in June 2016.
Pride flags have frequently been displayed at the site as a symbol of its legacy. Pride banners continue to hang across the street at the Stonewall Inn, which remains in operation decades after the uprising.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized the decision, calling it “deeply outrageous.”
“The removal of the Pride Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall National Monument is a deeply outrageous action that must be reversed right now,” Schumer said.
“New Yorkers are right to be outraged, but if there’s one thing I know about this latest attempt to rewrite history, stoke division and discrimination, and erase our community pride, it’s this: That flag will return.”
