Activists gathered around the Stonewall National Monument at Christopher Park on May 31 and June 1 to decorate the area with Rainbow Flags in observance of Pride Month.
First, activists — led by Steven Love Menendez, the caretaker of the flags in the park — added smaller Rainbow Flags along the perimeter of the park on May 31. Then, on June 1, the first day of Pride Month, a larger Rainbow Flag was raised.
Menendez was joined by several others in the flag-raising effort, including activists Jay W. Walker, Robert Croonquist, former National Park Service ranger Julie Burna, Zahir Babvani, Lorelei Crean, J.C. Augustine, Karen Finley, Jim Fourat, Jose Cuevas, and Stacy Lantz, a co-owner of the Stonewall Inn.
Members of the cast of “CATS: The Jellicle Ball” also joined.
The flags are separate from the main flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument, which the Trump administration had removed the flag in February in an explosive decision that was first reported by Gay City News. The Trump administration later re-raised a Rainbow Flag, but positioned it lower than it was before and below an American Flag that was not previously on the flagpole.
See some photos below from both flag-raising events on May 31 and June 1.
