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A rainbow Pride flag flies with an American flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig) <\/p>\nA rainbow Pride flag flies with an American flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo\/Seth Wenig) <\/p>\n
NEW YORK \u2014 The Trump administration said Monday it will resume flying a rainbow Pride flag on a federal flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, reversing course two months after removing the banner from the first national monument commemorating LGBTQ+ history.<\/p>\n
The government revealed the decision in court papers as it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by advocacy and historic preservation groups who had sought to block the Feb. 9 removal. A judge approved the deal.<\/p>\n
The Interior Department and National Park Service \u201chave confirmed their intention to maintain a Pride flag at Stonewall,\u201d lawyers for the government and the groups wrote in a joint court filing.<\/p>\n
The flag \u2014 one of several Pride banners at the 7.7-acre park \u2014 won\u2019t be removed, except for \u201cmaintenance or other practical purposes,\u201d the filing said.<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, within a week, the park service will hang three flags on its flagpole at the monument. The Pride flag will be positioned below the U.S. flag, in accordance with U.S. flag code, and above the park service flag. Each will measure 3 feet by 5 feet.<\/p>\n
The site also features a large Pride flag on a city-controlled flagpole and smaller flags on a fence surrounding the monument, which is across the street from the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar where a 1969 police raid sparked an uprising and helped catalyze the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Those flags weren\u2019t removed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe fought the Trump administration and won,\u201d said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal wrote on X. The Democrat helped organize a protest Pride flag raising after the government-authorized banner was removed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe as an LGBTQ community celebrate the legal climb-down by the gutless Trump Administration on their contemptuous attempt to erase queer people from American history at Stonewall,\u201d Hoylman-Sigal, the first openly gay person elected to his job, wrote.<\/p>\n
Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, called the Trump administration\u2019s reversal \u201ca victory for the LGBTQ+ community and for our entire city\u201d and \u201ca reminder that New Yorkers won\u2019t let our history be rewritten.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gilbert Baker Foundation, which honors the Pride flag creator who died in 2017, was among the organizations that sued over the removal.<\/p>\n
\u201cStonewall is sacred ground in the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation, and this resolution helps ensure that the Rainbow Flag will continue to fly there, where it belongs,\u201d foundation President Charley Beal said.<\/p>\n
The Pride flag had become a flashpoint for arguments over Republican President Donald Trump \u2018s approach to Stonewall and various other historical properties.<\/p>\n
After a yearslong campaign by activists who wanted the flag symbolizing LGBTQ+ pride to be flown daily inside the park service-run site, the banner was formally installed in 2022 during Democrat Joe Biden \u2018s tenure.<\/p>\n
At the time, park service officials called it a sign of the government\u2019s commitment to \u201ctelling the complex and diverse histories of all Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it removed the flag in February, the park service said it was complying with federal guidance on flag displays. A Jan. 21 memo largely restricted the agency to displaying U.S., Interior Department and POW\/MIA flags, with exemptions that include providing \u201chistorical context.\u201d<\/p>\n
The park service insisted the monument \u201cremains committed to preserving and interpreting the history and significance of this site\u201d through exhibits and programs. But LGBTQ+ activists saw the flag\u2019s removal as a targeted affront meant to diminish a site that is all about their fight for rights and visibility.<\/p>\n
Activists Michael Petrelis and Steven Love Menendez, who fought to have the park service fly the Pride flag, said they were pleased with Monday\u2019s agreement. But, they said, they were dismayed that other symbols, such as the even more inclusive Progress Pride flag, were left out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look forward to the day when the flag display can restored to its original intent that allows all iterations of LGBTQ+ flags to fly,\u201d Menendez said. \u201cUntil then at least we have the original rainbow flag flying to serve as a beacon of light.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democratic President Barack Obama created the Stonewall monument in 2016.<\/p>\n
After Trump returned to office last year, he took aim at diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and many references to transgender people were excised from the Stonewall monument\u2019s website and materials.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s administration similarly has put national parks, museums and landmarks under a messaging microscope, aiming to remove or alter materials that it says are \u201cdivisive or partisan\u201d or \u201cinappropriately disparage Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rainbow Pride flag flies with an American flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York, Monday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":196473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":{"0":"post-196472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-headlines","10":"tag-new-york-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}