The Trump administration ordered the removal of a Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument celebrating a riot by gay males against police in the ’60s.
The order said only U.S. flags and other authorized flags can be displayed at sites managed by the National Park Service.
‘New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history.’
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed his outrage against the order in a post on the X social media platform.
“I am outraged by the removal of the Rainbow Pride Flag from Stonewall National Monument,” Mamdani wrote. “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.”
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said he would re-raise the flag at the monument Tuesday, along with other New York City-area politicians.
The national monument commemorates a riot against police by gay males in Greenwich Village. LGBTQ+ activists cite the rioting as a turning point in the gay rights movement. The monument was established under the administration of former President Barack Obama.
“I think it’s important that we speak out and stand up for the community, frankly, just as our forebears, who exhibited much more courage back in 1969,” Hoylman-Sigal said in an interview Tuesday. “This is not a moment for our community to stand by idly as attempts to undermine our history are put forward by Trump and the federal administration.”
“I will always fight for a New York City that invests in our LGBTQ+ community, defends their dignity, and protects every one of our neighbors — without exception,” Mamdani continued in his X post.
A similar outrage erupted from LGBTQ activists in February when the Trump administration stripped the “T” and the “Q” from LGBTQ at Stonewall. Protesters vandalized the sign at the monument to add the word “transgender.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) denounced the Trump administration at the time.
“This is just cruel and petty,” she responded. “Transgender people play a critical role in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights — and New York will never allow their contributions to be erased.”
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