Camille Naredo

Article (news)

Stonewall

Reuters Wires

U.S. President Donald Trump&#x27;s administration has removed a large rainbow Pride flag from the flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument, which marks the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement in New York City. The bare flagpole drew sharp reactions on Tuesday from New York City residents and visitors. Margot Avery, 68, who said she has lived across the street from the monument since 1958, called the removal of the flag &quot;stupid and petty and mean.&quot; &quot;It meant that there was pride in the fight for equal rights,&quot; Avery said, fighting back tears, adding that she found it &quot;very, very depressing and sad.&quot; &quot;It&#x27;s disappointing, but it&#x27;s not surprising anymore,&quot; said Kaelyn Lewis, 30, who was visiting New York City from Houston, Texas. &quot;Right now it’s just the flag. But soon - tear down Stonewall, tear down the monument.&quot;The National Parks Service, the federal agency that oversees U.S. national monuments, said that because the flagpole is managed by the agency, the flag was removed to ensure a &quot;longstanding policy is applied consistently across NPS-managed sites,&quot; following a memorandum circulated by a senior agency official on Jan. 21.&quot;The policy governing flag displays on federal property has been in place for decades,&quot; the agency said in a statement. &quot;Any changes to flag displays are made to ensure consistency with that guidance.&quot; It referred to guidance issued in 2023 that government-managed flagpoles are not &quot;a forum for free expression by the public&quot;, and that flags besides the U.S. flag may be flown that are &quot;an expression of the Federal Government&#x27;s official sentiments.&quot; The policy allows flags that provide historical context or are part of a &quot;living history&quot; program.The flagpole and monument is in Christopher Park, marking where gay, lesbian and transgender New Yorkers rioted and protested in response to a late-night police raid of the Stonewall Inn in 1969, a time when such raids of gay bars were commonplace. The Stonewall uprising was a watershed moment in the gay rights movement, and is commemorated in New York City&#x27;s annual Pride march.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/6/30/new-york-city-hosts-historic-pride-parade-1032">READ: New York City hosts historic Pride parade</a></div>The site was designated a U.S. national monument in 2016 by then President Barack Obama, a Democrat, at an intersection that remains a bustling center of LGBT nightlife.Trump and other Republican politicians have sought to curtail LGBT rights, especially those of transgender people. Trump has ordered his agencies to adopt a policy that there are two immutable sexes and rejected what he calls &quot;gender ideology,&quot; and he has sought to stop transgender prisoners and military veterans from receiving federally funded gender-affirming care.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/1/21/trump-decrees-end-of-diversity-programs-lgbtq-protections-1155">READ: Trump decrees end of diversity programs, LGBTQ protections</a></div>Trump&#x27;s anti-transgender policies have previously reached the Stonewall monument, too: under his administration, every mention of &quot;LGBT&quot; on the monument&#x27;s official website was replaced with &quot;LGB&quot;.The flag was removed either Sunday (February 8) night or early Monday (February 9) morning, Gay City News reported on Monday. The National Parks Service did not respond to questions about what it would do if New Yorkers simply raised another rainbow flag over the monument, as Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and others intend to do on Thursday (February 12).<div>(Production: Christine Kiernan, Soren Larson, Jonathan Allen)</div>

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has removed a large rainbow Pride flag from the flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument, which marks the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement in New York City.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has removed a large rainbow Pride flag from the flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument, which marks the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement in New York City.

'Stupid and petty and mean': New Yorkers on removal of pride flag from Stonewall

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'Stupid and petty and mean': New Yorkers on removal of pride flag from Stonewall

Reuters

Published February 12, 2026 01:05 AM PHT

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Updated May 21, 2026 01:57 AM PHT

Read More:

LGBTQ

gay rights

human rights

New York

Stonewall

Stonewall National Monument

Donald Trump

pride flag

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