Activists ignore Trump as they return pride flag to Stonewall monument
The pride flag was re-raised at the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, on 12 February, 2026, after its removal by the National Park Service earlier this week. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images)
Activists have defied the Trump administration by reinstalling a pride flag at iconic Stonewall National Monument in Manhattan.
Just three days after the Trump administration quietly took down a pride flag installed at the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, activists gathered together to reinstate it.
In its move to take down the pride flag the administration had cited January guidance that limits the type of flags that can be displayed at sites managed by the National Park Service (NPS).
However, on Thursday (12 February), as promised by Manhattan Borough president Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Manhattan State Senator Erik Bottcher, the flag was re-raised.
The ceremony, which saw crowds flood the area surrounding Christopher Park, didn’t follow its original plan, as the flag was only able to be attached to a flagpole next to the one where the original pride flag was located, meaning it was only flying at half-mast.
Those in attendance weren’t happy to settle for the compromise, and activists Jay W Walker and Josh Tjaden took it in into their own hands to reinstall the pride flag onto its original flagpole, enabling the flag to fly proudly alongside, if not a little higher than, the American flag.
Walker told Gay City News: “Our elected officials, though I love them, brought in their own flagpole and planted it in the ground in front of it, and their plastic pole was lower than that flagpole, so it resulted in our Rainbow Flag being lower than [the American Flag] and not on the actual flagpole.
“The least we could do is to put our flag higher on this cord than the American Flag.”
The pride flag was initially installed in 2022 under then-president Joe Biden.
Angelica Christina, the director of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, told Gay City News: “I feel so empowered to say my community showed up en masse.
“To have our space invaded like this is criminal. And, of course, the person that is directing these sycophants to invade our home is a 34-time convicted felon himself. What today means is resilience and tapping into our LGBTQIA+ history.”
She added that the community will keep fighting for themselves and future generations.
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