The Trump administration aggressively criticized activists and elected officials who raised a Rainbow Flag at the Stonewall National Monument three days after the National Park Service removed the flag from the flagpole on federal land.
The Department of the Interior, the agency which includes the National Park Service (NPS), told Gay City News the flag-raising ceremony was a “political stunt” and “a distraction” from the city’s “recent deadly failures.”
The statement came after elected officials convened a 4 p.m. flag-raising ceremony on Feb. 12 at the Stonewall National Monument, where a large crowd gathered around the flagpole. Earlier in the day, elected officials rallied at the site, blasting the federal government and vowing to restore the flag later in the day. Some elected officials brought a flag to the flagpole, but activists ultimately stepped up to install the flag and raise it up the flagpole.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, sought to draw a connection between the flag-raising ceremony and last month’s snowstorm.
“Hundreds of families in New York City went without power during this year’s severe cold weather, people are being found dead on the streets, and trash has piled up so high it towers over city residents. This is Mayor Mamdani and city officials’ New York City,” the Department of the Interior told Gay City News when asked for comment on the flag-raising ceremony.
Instead, the agency said, “it would be a better use of [the city’s] time to get the trash buildup off city streets, ensure there are no more avoidable deaths, and work to keep the power on for the people of New York City.”
“Today’s political pageantry shows how utterly incompetent and misaligned the New York City officials are with the problems their city is facing,” the statement added.
The Department of the Interior falsely claimed all government agencies are following “longstanding federal flag policy that has been in place for decades,” ignoring the fact that former President Joe Biden’s administration oversaw the installation of the Rainbow Flag on federal land at the Stonewall National Monument.
“Recent adjustments to flag displays at the monument were made to ensure consistency with federal guidance,” the statement added, apparently referring to the department’s new guidance on Jan. 21 stipulating that “only the US Flag, flags of the DOI, and the POW/MIA flag will be flown by the NPS…”
