TL;DR

• The Trump administration removed the Pride flag flying over the Stonewall National Monument in NYC.
• Officials say it’s about “policy” — locals call it an attack on LGBTQ history.
• New York leaders vow to raise another Pride flag in defiance.
• Removal comes amid broader federal moves limiting LGBTQ and especially transgender rights.
• Critics call it an “act of erasure” at the birthplace of modern LGBTQ activism.

A Rainbow Gone Missing at Stonewall

NEW YORK — In a move that sent shockwaves through queer communities nationwide, the Trump administration quietly plucked the giant rainbow Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument — yes, the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement — leaving the flagpole bare and New Yorkers fuming. The National Park Service insists it was simply following a “longstanding policy” about what can fly over federal property. New Yorkers, on the other hand, aren’t buying the bureaucratic blandness.

Instead, they’re calling it what it looks like: an unmistakable swipe at LGBTQ history, pride, and visibility. And in a city where Stonewall isn’t just a site but a symbol — a sacred corner of Greenwich Village where queer New Yorkers rioted in 1969 to fight back against police harassment — folks aren’t about to let it slide.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani didn’t mince words, branding the removal an “act of erasure,” while Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal declared it “a deliberate attack on the LGBTQ community.” For many leaders, the meaning is obvious: When you start taking down Pride flags at Stonewall, you’re not enforcing policy — you’re rewriting history with a government-issued eraser.

Policy or Political Hit Job?

The Park Service pointed to guidance issued in 2023 declaring federal flagpoles off-limits to public self-expression. Only flags representing “official sentiments” — or those used for historical interpretation — are allowed. But if Stonewall doesn’t qualify as historical context, then truly nothing does.

Adding insult to injury, officials disclosed that Trump’s agencies have already swapped every “LGBT” reference on the monument’s official website with a tidier, exclusionary “LGB,” part of the administration’s ongoing effort to erase trans people from public policy, public discourse, and, apparently, public flagpoles.

The Pride flag reportedly disappeared sometime between Sunday night and early Monday morning, according to Gay City News — just the kind of covert operation that makes New Yorkers even more determined to flip the script. Activists and local officials are openly planning to raise a fresh rainbow flag by Thursday. And if the feds don’t like it? Well, as Hoylman-Sigal wryly noted, “We think the worst outcome would be arrest, but that’s in the spirit of Stonewall itself. The movement was founded on rebellion against authorities.”

You can almost hear Marsha P. Johnson whispering, “Pay it no mind — keep fighting.”

Why This Matters for LGBTQ People Today

Make no mistake: this isn’t just about a flag. It’s about the ongoing political assault on queer and especially transgender Americans — an assault that slices straight through symbols, language, and policy. Stonewall is a national monument because LGBTQ people fought to exist. To strip away its Pride flag in 2026 is to send a chilling signal that the federal government is pulling back recognition of that struggle.

But here’s the part the administration seems to underestimate: Pride flags aren’t just fabric — they’re declarations. They’ve been burned, banned, ripped down, and still, they rise again. Removing one from Stonewall is less a triumph than an invitation for New Yorkers to flood the site with even more color, noise, and resistance.

And this week, it looks like that’s exactly what’s going to happen. Stonewall began with rebellion — and if officials think a memo about flagpoles will stop queer people from showing up, showing pride, and showing defiance, they clearly have not met New York’s LGBTQ community.

The rainbow will be back. Count on it.