NYC officials plan to return pride flag to Stonewall monument after Trump’s removal
People gather in protest at the Stonewall National Monument after the Trump administration had the National Park Service remove the LGBTQ+ Pride flag from the site. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
New York City (NYC) officials are planning to reinstall a pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument in Manhattan after the Trump administration took it down.
The Trump administration quietly took down a pride flag installed at the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, citing January guidance that limits the type of flags that can be displayed at sites managed by the National Park Service (NPS).
The Department of Interior, NPS’ parent agency, confirmed that the flag was removed in line with government-wide guidance.
“Only the US flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorised flags are flown on NPS-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions,” the statement partly read.
On Tuesday (10 January), Manhattan Borough president Brad Hoylman-Sigal said, as per Politico, that he and other NYC-area politicians will reinstall the flag at the federal monument on Thursday.
He said: “I think it’s important that we speak out and stand up for the community, frankly, just as our forebearers, who exhibited much more courage back in 1969.”
“This is not a moment for our community to stand by idly as attempts to undermine our history are put forward by Trump and the federal administration,” he concluded.
The Stonewall Inn was the site of the powerful uprising on 28 June 1969, and the reason Pride Month is held in June each year.
In February last year, the Trump administration removed nearly all references to trans people from the Stonewall National Monument’s official website, which commemorates the Stonewall riots. Trans women like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were central to the Stonewall riots.
Last year, as part of its anti-diversity, equity and inclusion agenda, the Trump administration said that only the traditional six-striped rainbow flag could be flown for Pride Month at the Stonewall National Monument. In an act of defiance against the administration, visitors placed trans flags at the monument.
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