By: Al Ballesteros
Photo by: Brian Logan | Dreamstime.com
Photo by: Eva Torianyk | Dreamstime.com
The Trump administration’s Interior Department has caused the removal of the Pride Flag from the Stonewall National monument in New York City. Stonewall is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, and arguably one the most recognized places of focus for our community.
If they’re trying to send what they believe is yet another anti-DEI message with this move against our community, they certainly are getting our attention. This is still another example of their going after what they call DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) and doing their best to erase and do away with anything that speaks to it in the federal government or in the National parks which are under federal management.
The Stonewall National monument commemorates the June 1969 riots that followed a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The six days of protests against police action were a key moment in sparking the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and the site has since become a national symbol of LGBTQ+ Pride. Is there anywhere more appropriate to fly the Pride Flag.
Barack Obama designated the Stonewall National Monument site in 2016. It is located in Greenwich Village, New York City, encompassing Christopher Park and the area around the historic Stonewall Inn, across from 53 Christopher Street.
The taking down of the flag all happened via a “memo” that it would be enforcing “existing policy.” In the memo, which impacts other communities and interests as well, says flagpoles are “not intended to serve as a forum for free expression by the public.”
“They cannot erase our history. Our Pride flag will be raised again,” the Manhattan borough president, Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who is gay, wrote in social media post.
The Interior Department told the Guardian, “The policy governing flag displays on federal property has been in place for decades. Recent guidance clarifies how that longstanding policy is applied consistently across NPS-managed sites.”
Julie Menin, the New York city council speaker, and the co-chairs of the council’s LGBTQ+ caucus, denounced the removal of the Pride flag and urged the National Park Service to return the flag in a February 10 letter to the Trump administration.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader said, “The removal of the Pride Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall National Monument is a deeply outrageous action that must be reversed right now.”
Stacy Lentz, co-owner of the Stonewall Inn which operates independently from the national monument said the removal of the flag was an “awful attack on the park”. “We can’t trust the government with our history or with our stories,” she said according to the Guardian.
Soon after Donald Trump was elected to a second, non-consecutive term in 2024, his administration eliminated all references to transgender people from the National Park Service website for the Stonewall national monument. In June 2025, the Stonewall national monument excluded the Transgender and Progress Flags from its Pride month display, according to reporting in TransVitae. And most recently, the Pride Rainbow flag joins the others in being eliminated from the flagpoles at the Stonewall National Monument.
Objectively, sure, many would argue that the government must have some oversight of its national areas and what can be displayed. We can probably all agree we would not want hate flags allowed to fly on federal managed flagpoles at Stonewall. But the Pride flag, Transgender and Progress Flags flying in proximity to the Stonewall Gay Bar in the Stonewall Monument designated area of the country, in a gay area of New York is something they should have just left alone.
These actions by this elected federal government are intended to bring us down, to set us back and even keep “us in our place,” some believe. I’m sure many of you are alarmed and question this action. But what do we do? Feel defeated? Feel sad and depressed? No. We need to organize, to get involved. We need to get involved in the politics at all levels of government and involve ourselves in civic engagement in our local areas. We must register to vote, study the issues and support individuals at all levels of government that support our community.
Coupled with the above, the federal government has continued to cut back on funding of programs for our community in the form of health care, education and support services. Program funding for prevention and things like mental health and drug treatment have been canceled for being “too DEI” or that these community programs serve people of color or those from the LGBTQ+ community. As recent as last month on January 14, $2 billion in funding for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment contracts, largely serving people of color and LGBTQ individuals were abruptly ended. The reasons given for ending the funding were said to be that these programs were seen to largely support DEI activities. They are suggesting that helping people of color and LGBTQ people, in and of itself, is DEI. That is certainly not true. However, what followed the announcement of the funding cut was a huge outcry from across the country, from the public, both democrat and republican. It is believed this outcry caused the White House to reversed its decision and restored the $2 billion in contracts within 24 hours.
The lessons learned from the above and other such actions is we need to “push back” with our voices when our community is “wronged.” The best way to do that is to get involved and learn about these actions and if you’re concerned, to lend your support by making calls or writing letters to your elected representatives expressing your concerns. You can start by learning who your elected member of congress is by searching this link house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative. You can also start making a difference by registering to vote, if you’re eligible and not currently registered.