![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SNY_2137.jpg\")
The bare flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument is seen on Feb. 10 after the Trump administration removed a Rainbow Flag.Donna Aceto<\/p>\nThe Trump administration removed a large Rainbow Flag from a flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument, the National Park Service confirmed to Gay City News on Feb. 9, marking the latest example of the president\u2019s broader effort to erase the queer community from the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.<\/p>\n
Gay City News contacted the National Park Service on the evening of Feb. 9 to inquire about why the Rainbow Flag was removed from the Stonewall National Monument, which sits at Christopher Park near the Stonewall Inn and was designated as a national monument by former President Barack Obama in 2016.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder government-wide guidance, including General Services Administration policy and Department of the Interior direction, only the US flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags are flown on NPS-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions,\u201d a spokesperson for the National Park Service told Gay City News on the evening of Feb. 9. \u201cAny changes to flag displays are made to ensure consistency with that guidance. Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site\u2019s historic significance through exhibits and programs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bare flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument is seen on Feb. 10 after the Trump administration removed a Rainbow Flag.Donna Aceto<\/p>\n
The flag\u2019s removal comes more than eight years after the first Trump administration cancelled a plan<\/a> to dedicate a Rainbow Flag at the monument by arguing that the flagpole was on city land, not federal land \u2014 a widely-criticized move that marked the beginning of a years-long effort by activists to preserve the flag\u2019s presence in the park. During the Biden administration, Steven Love Menendez, a caretaker of the flags at the park, worked with activist Michael Petrelis to successfully convince the federal government to allow a Rainbow Flag<\/a> to rise on federal land at the park.<\/p>\n Menendez wondered why the flag was removed now \u2014 not back when the Trump administration was removing transgender and bisexual references from the park.\n<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t anticipate this happening at this very moment,\u201d Menendez said. \u201cI was just in the park three days ago,\u201d making sure the flags were stable.\n<\/p>\n However, the US Department of the Interior posted new guidance on Jan. 21<\/a> stipulating that \u201conly the US Flag, flags of the DOI, and the POW\/MIA flag will be flown by the NPS\u2026\u201d The list of exemptions includes flags that \u201cprovide historical context, such as earlier version of the US Flag at a historic fort,\u201d \u201care part of historic reenactments or living history programs,\u201d and other examples.<\/p>\n Community members are expected to hold a demonstration at the Stonewall National Monument at 5 p.m. on Feb. 10 to condemn the removal of the flag.\n<\/p>\n The latest move prompted a joint response from Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, State Senator Erik Bottcher, and Assemblymember Deborah Glick, all of whom are out political leaders who have represented the area.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a deliberate act of erasure,\u201d the political leaders told Gay City News in the joint statement. \u201cThe Pride Flag is history, resistance, and Pride born at Stonewall itself. 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.<\/p>\n In a written statement to Gay City News, Senate Minorty Leader Chuck Schumer of New York ripped the Trump administration and predicted that the flag would return.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe removal of the Pride Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall National Monument is a deeply\u00a0outrageous\u00a0action that must be reversed right now. Stonewall is a landmark because it is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, and symbols of that legacy belong there by both history and principle. New Yorkers are right to be outraged, but if there\u2019s one thing I know about this latest attempt to rewrite history, stoke division and discrimination, and erase our community pride it\u2019s this: that flag will return.\u00a0New Yorkers will\u00a0see to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he was \u201coutraged\u201d by the flag\u2019s removal, saying \u201cact of erasure will ever change, or silence\u201d the history of the Stonewall National Monumnet.<\/p>\n \u201cOur city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to live up to it. I will always fight for a New York City that invests in our LGBTQ+ community, defends their dignity, and protects every one of our neighbors\u2014without exception,\u201d Mamdani wrote on X.<\/p>\n The flag\u2019s removal also drew criticism from City Council Speaker Julie Menin.\n<\/p>\n \u201cStonewall is sacred ground,\u201d Menin said in a written statement. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Responding to Gay City News\u2019 post on X, Congressmember Jerrold Nadler described the flag\u2019s removal as \u201canother disgusting example of the Trump Administration\u2019s effort to erase the LGBTQ+ community.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRemoving the Pride flag will not make us forget the legacy of Stonewall,\u201d Nadler wrote on X. \u201cI fought for Stonewall to become designated as a National Monument and I will fight to see that the Pride flag is raised again.\u201d<\/p>\n New York Attorney General Letitia James also spoke out on X in response to Gay City News\u2019 post.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s decision to remove the Pride Flag from the Stonewall National Monument is despicable,\u201d James wrote. \u201cThis administration\u2019s bigotry will not erase the history of Stonewall. I\u2019ll always stand with our LGBTQ+ community.\u201d<\/p>\n During the beginning of President Donald Trump\u2019s second term, the administration scrubbed references to transgender individuals on the Stonewall National Monument\u2019s website, infuriating LGBTQ community members who protested at the park.<\/a> At the time, the Trump administration justified the removal of trans and bisexual references by telling Gay City News that it was implementing \u201cExecutive Order 14168 and Secretary\u2019s Order 2416: Federal Register: Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government SO 3416 \u2013 Ending DEI Programs and Gender Ideology Extremism.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Miss](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BCH_3253.jpg\")
Miss Simone (left) watches Shirley McKinney and Steven Love Menendez lift the Rainbow Flag up into the air at Christopher Park in 2022 \u2014 back when the Biden administration allowed the flag to go up, complete with black and brown stripes and the colors of the Trans Flag.Donna Aceto<\/p>\n