The Trump administration removed a large Rainbow Flag from a flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument, the National Park Service confirmed to Gay City News on Feb. 9, representing the president’s latest attack on the queer community at the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.
Gay City News contacted the National Park Service on the evening of Feb. 9 to inquire about why the Rainbow Flag was removed from the Stonewall National Monument, which sits at Christopher Park near the Stonewall Inn and was designated as a national monument by former President Barack Obama in 2016.
“Under government-wide guidance, including General Services Administration policy and Department of the Interior direction, only the US flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags are flown on NPS-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions,” a spokesperson for the National Park Service told Gay City News on the evening of Feb. 9. “Any changes to flag displays are made to ensure consistency with that guidance. Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance through exhibits and programs.”
The flag’s removal comes more than eight years after the first Trump administration cancelled a plan to dedicate a Rainbow Flag at the monument by arguing that the flagpole was on city land, not federal land — a widely-criticized move that marked the beginning of a years-long effort by activists to preserve the flag’s presence in the park. During the Biden administration, Steven Love Menendez, a caretaker of the flags at the park, worked with activist Michael Petrelis to successfully convince the federal government to allow a Rainbow Flag to rise on federal land at the park.
The latest move prompted a joint response from Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, State Senator Erik Bottcher, and former Assemblymember Deborah Glick, all of whom are out political leaders who have represented the area.
“This is a deliberate act of erasure,” the political leaders told Gay City News in the joint statement. “The Pride Flag is history, resistance, and Pride born at Stonewall itself. Taking it down does not diminish our community. It exposes an administration afraid of visibility and truth. Our history will not be erased, and our Pride is not theirs to take down.
During the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, the administration scrubbed references to transgender individuals on the Stonewall National Monument’s website, infuriating LGBTQ community members who protested at the park. At the time, the Trump administration justified the removal of trans and bisexual references by telling Gay City News that it was implementing “Executive Order 14168 and Secretary’s Order 2416: Federal Register: Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government SO 3416 – Ending DEI Programs and Gender Ideology Extremism.”
The administration subsequently erased bisexual representation from the site, further angering community members.
“I feel taking down the flag is a hateful and petty act from a hateful administration,” Menendez said in an interview with Gay City News. “They have no idea what the meaning of love and community is. They are hellbent on harming as many marginalized groups as they possibly can. They have no compassion, kindness, or soul.”
Last year, the Trump administration also decided it no longer wanted the existing large Rainbow Flag, which incorporated black and brown stripes and colors drawn from the Trans Flag — a move consistent with the administration’s broader erasure of trans individuals and its rejection of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Instead, it only allowed the basic Rainbow Flag on the flagpole.
Menendez wondered why the flag was removed now — not back when the Trump administration was removing transgender and bisexual references from the park.
“I didn’t anticipate this happening at this very moment,” Menendez said. “I was just in the park three days ago,” making sure the flags were stable.
However, the US Department of the Interior posted 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…” The list of exemptions includes flags that “provide historical context, such as earlier version of the US Flag at a historic fort,” “are part of historic reenactments or living history programs,” and other examples.
Menendez took issue with the National Park Service’s point that limited exceptions can be made for certain flags — but apparently not Rainbow Flags.
“I wonder why the flag is not a ‘limited exception,'” he said.
It also stood out that the National Park Service noted that the Stonewall National Monument will “continue to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance” given that the administration has distorted LGBTQ history by censoring references to transgender and bisexual people.
“I think all of their actions are going to backfire,” Menendez said.
