Pride Flag Reinstated at Stonewall National Monument After Donald Trump Administration Settles Lawsuit

A pride flag will once again be displayed over the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. The Trump administration agreed to the decision after settling a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ+ groups after its removal in February. The flag had flown for years on a pole in a park near the Stonewall Inn, a historic gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village. The bar was the site of a 1969 uprising with police, now seen as the start of the modern LGBTQ+ movement.

According to USA Today, the decision by the Trump administration is a significant development for the LGBTQ+ community. As part of the settlement, the administration has agreed to reinstall the flag atop the monument’s official flagpole within seven days and maintain it permanently. The government has also acknowledged that the flag falls within federal law and park service policy.

Reacting to the decision, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani praised the move, calling it a “victory for the LGBTQ+ community” and for the entire city. He also said in a post on X, “It's a reminder that New Yorkers won't let our history be rewritten.” Notably, three flags will now hang on the federal flagpole: the American flag, the rainbow Pride Flag, and the park service flag.

The Gilbert Baker Foundation, which honors the legacy of the flag’s creator, also praised the ruling. The USA Today report states that the foundation’s President, Charles Beal, said Baker created the rainbow pride flag as a symbol of “hope and liberation.” Expressing happiness over the decision, he added, “Today, that symbol is restored to the place where it belongs, standing watch over the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.”

In addition, the LGBTQ+ supporters also appreciated the settlement and accused the Trump administration of trying to erase LGBTQ+ history.

The report quotes Karen Loewy, the co-counsel of the group that sued, who remarked, “The sudden, arbitrary, and capricious removal of the pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument was yet another act by this administration to erase the LGBTQ+ community.”

Loewy is a senior counsel and director of Constitutional Law Practice for Lambda Legal, a civil rights group that supports the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals. Over the years, the flag has become an internationally recognized symbol advocating equality for the LGBTQ+ community.

The clash began earlier this year, in February, when the government quietly removed the flag, following weeks after the National Park Service issued federal guidance on the types of banners permitted in national parks. The government said the flag didn’t comply with its rules, noting that only the U.S. flag and a limited number of approved flags are allowed on poles managed by the park service. A week later, several nonprofit groups filed a lawsuit seeking the flag’s return.

The Stonewall National Monument honors a 1969 clash between police and the LGBTQ+ community in New York. The protests lasted days and helped start the modern rights movement. In 2016, former U.S. President Barack Obama made the site a national monument to preserve its history.