A large Pride flag has been removed from the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village.
The National Park Service said it did so under guidance from the federal government.
“Under government-wide guidance, including General Services Administration policy and Department of the Interior direction, only the U.S. flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags are flown on NPS-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions. Any changes to flag displays are made to ensure consistency with that guidance. Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance through exhibits and programs,” the National Park Service said in a statement.
The move drew immediate criticism from City Council Speaker Julie Menin.
“Stonewall is sacred ground. It is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and the removal of the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument is a deliberate and cowardly attempt to erase that history. This is an attack on LGBTQ+ New Yorkers, and we will not stand for it. Our history will not be rewritten, and our rights will not be rolled back,” Menin said in a statement.
It’s just the latest change at the Stonewall National Monument. Last February, references to transgender and queer people were removed from the Stonewall National Monument as a result of an executive order President Trump signed on his first day in office calling for the federal government to define sex as only male or female. In addition, the letters T and Q were struck from the LGBTQ acronym in various places on the website, replaced with “LGB rights movement” and “LGB civil rights.” Transgender flags were also removed from the monument.
The Stonewall National Monument is the nation’s first dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and history. It was designated as a national monument in 2016.