Trump Admin Removes Satisfaction Flag From Stonewall Monument

Authorities remove the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument, in New York City

The Stonewall Nationwide Monument, the place the LGBTQ+ rights motion was born, after authorities eliminated the Satisfaction flag from the Greenwich Village web site.
Picture: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

The Nationwide Park Service lately eliminated an LGBTQ+ Satisfaction flag from the Stonewall Nationwide Monument in Manhattan due to a coverage change enacted by the Trump administration. It’s the newest occasion of the Nationwide Park Service altering the landmark that honors the legacy of the Stonewall riots, which marked the start of the trendy LGBTQ+ rights motion.

Manhattan borough president Brad Hoylman-Sigal mentioned he confirmed the flag had been taken down over the weekend on the national-park web site that comprises the historic Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village homosexual bar that was the location of a police raid that sparked demonstrations and riots in 1969. “They can’t erase our historical past. Our Satisfaction flag might be raised once more. Keep tuned,” mentioned Hoylman-Segal, the primary overtly LGBTQ+ particular person to carry his workplace in metropolis historical past, in a assertion.

The flag’s elimination follows a January 21 memo issued by Jessica Bowdon, the performing director of the NPS, which states that solely the U.S. flag, the Division of the Inside flag, or the POW/MIA flag may be flown on public websites operated by the NPS. There are exceptions for flags that present historic context, ones flown throughout historic reenactments, or flags of federally acknowledged tribal nations with connections to the park in query, amongst others.

In a assertion, Mayor Zohran Mamdani mentioned he was “outraged” on the flag’s elimination. “New York is the birthplace of the trendy LGBTQ+ rights motion, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that historical past,” he mentioned. “Our metropolis has an obligation not simply to honor this legacy, however to dwell as much as it. I’ll all the time combat for a New York Metropolis that invests in our LGBTQ+ group, defends their dignity, and protects each one among our neighbors — with out exception.”

Different native officers swiftly condemned the transfer. Metropolis Council Speaker Julie Menin, together with Chi Ossé and Justin Sanchez, co-chairs of the council’s LGBTQIA+ caucus, issued a letter to Bowdon condemning the flag’s elimination. They wrote that the transfer “sends a deeply troubling message, one which exhibits the world that we’re prepared to sanitize and erase our historical past and the very values that make America nice.” The lawmakers urged the company to return the flag to the monument, “the place it belongs.”

“We additionally request a immediate response outlining the rationale behind this determination and the steps your company will take to make sure that the Stonewall Nationwide Monument continues to replicate the reality of its historical past and the group it represents,” the letter reads.

Earlier this month, the NPS eliminated references to the trans group at Stonewall and adjusted the abbreviation LGBTQ to LGB on the park’s web site, referring solely to these figuring out as lesbian, homosexual, or bisexual. The company additionally reportedly took down usages of the phrase queer, NPR reported on the time.