Pride Flag Re-raised at Stonewall Inn in Protest
Activists re-raised the Pride flag at the Stonewall Inn National Monument, defying a recent federal order that had led to its removal. The protest was organized by community members who view the order as an attack on LGBTQ+ rights. The initial removal was reportedly due to a federal regulation concerning flag displays on historic properties.
- The removal was mandated by a January 21, 2026, Interior Department memorandum that restricts flags flown on National Park Service (NPS) property to official government flags like the U.S. flag, with limited exceptions. - This action is part of a broader pattern; in February 2025, the NPS removed references to transgender and queer people from the Stonewall monument's website to comply with a 2025 executive order from President Trump to remove "improper ideology" from federal exhibits. - The Stonewall National Monument, the first in the U.S. dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights, was designated by President Barack Obama in 2016. A Pride flag was first flown on the federal land of the monument in June 2022. - New York officials, including Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and U.S. Representative Jerry Nadler, led the public re-raising of the flag in defiance of the federal order. - Prominent New York figures, including Governor Kathy Hochul and actress Sarah Jessica Parker, publicly condemned the flag's removal. - During the re-raising ceremony, protesters, angered that the Pride flag was positioned below the American flag, briefly removed the U.S. flag and re-hung the Pride flag in a higher position. - New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the initial removal an "act of erasure," while the Department of the Interior criticized the re-raising as a "political stunt."
