Pride flag to remain at Stonewall National Monument after earlier removal

The Trump administration has agreed to continue flying the rainbow Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, reversing an earlier decision to remove it and moving to resolve a lawsuit brought by LGBTQ+ and historic preservation organizations. The settlement agreement, disclosed in recent court filings, still requires approval from a federal judge.

According to documents submitted to the court, the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service (NPS) “have confirmed their intention to maintain a Pride flag at Stonewall.” The agreement specifies that the flag will only be taken down for maintenance or other practical reasons, Guardian reports. Within a week of the settlement’s approval, the NPS will install three 3ft by 5ft flags on the monument’s flagpole: the US flag at the top, the Pride flag beneath it, and the National Park Service flag below.

The rainbow flag has been at the center of a broader conflict over Donald Trump’s policies toward Stonewall — the first US national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history — and other federally managed historic sites. Following sustained advocacy, the Pride flag was formally installed at the monument in 2022 during President Joe Biden’s administration, after activists pressed for it to be flown daily as a visible recognition of LGBTQ+ communities.

Park officials in New York initially described the flag’s installation as an expression of the federal government’s commitment to including LGBTQ+ experiences in the historical narrative. However, in February, the NPS removed the Pride flag, citing a 21 January internal memo that largely limited flag displays to the US flag, the Department of the Interior flag and the POW/MIA flag, with limited exceptions for “historical context.” While the agency maintained that Stonewall “remains committed to preserving and interpreting the history and significance of this site” through exhibits and programming, LGBTQ+ advocates viewed the removal as a pointed effort to diminish recognition of their struggle for equality.

In response, activists and several New York Democratic elected officials quickly arrived at the site with another rainbow flag. After initial disagreement over whether to leave it on a lower, separate pole, they raised it alongside the US flag then flying at the monument, sending a public message against the rollback of LGBTQ+ visibility.

The Stonewall National Monument was established in 2016 by Democratic president Barack Obama. It centers on a small park opposite the Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village bar where a 1969 police raid triggered days of resistance that helped ignite the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Since Trump returned to office last year, his administration has moved aggressively against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and protections for transgender people. At Stonewall, that approach has included the removal of many references to transgender people from official websites and interpretive materials.

Trump officials have more broadly subjected national parks, museums and historic sites to heightened review, seeking to erase or revise content they label “divisive or partisan” or “inappropriately disparage Americans.” For LGBTQ+ advocates, the agreement to keep the Pride flag flying at Stonewall is a crucial affirmation that federal recognition of queer and trans history cannot be quietly rolled back.