Trump admin to return Pride flag to NYC's Stonewall monument
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On Monday, the Trump Administration agreed to allow the Pride flag to be flown over the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. Its return comes after the government quietly removed the iconic rainbow flag celebrating LGBTQ+ history back in February.
This follows a statement from the National Parks Service, which cites that the banner failed to fall under compliance with federal guidance on flag displays, which restricts the department from only allowing U.S. Department of the Interior and POW/MIA flags.
The removal sparked outrage from the community, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who posted to social media: “New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history. Our city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to live up to it."
New Yorkers even re-raised the flag unofficially just days after learning of its removal from the memorial.
The controversial decision also led to legal action from various pro-LGBTQ+ organizations and nonprofits, fighting to restore the flag, arguing that it falls under the NPS exception allowing for flags of “historical context.”
The plaintiffs, including the Gilbert Baker Foundation, named after the creator of the Pride flag, also argued that the removal of the flag was yet another attack on the LGBTQ+ community by the current administration.
This reversal means the banner will not be removed except for "maintenance or other practical purposes," the filing said. Three flags will officially hang on the memorial’s flagpole at the monument: the American flag, the rainbow Pride flag, and the park service flag.
Established in 2016 by President Barack Obama, the monument stands across the street from the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, the gay bar where a 1969 police raid sparked an uprising and acted as a catalyst for the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
In 2020, the symbolic flag was installed at the site under the Biden administration.
Since returning to office in 2025, President Trump has consistently aimed at the community, especially regarding transgender inclusion protections.
Mayor Mamdani called the return of the flag a “victory for the LGBTQ+ community and for our entire city.”
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