Trump Forced to Restore Pride Flag at Historic Stonewall Site

The rainbow Pride flag will once again fly over the Stonewall National Monument, marking a significant reversal by the Trump administration after months of backlash, legal action and community protest.

The decision follows a February move by the administration to remove the flag from the federally managed site, citing internal guidance that restricted which banners could be displayed on government flagpoles. The removal sparked immediate outrage from LGBTQ+ advocates, historians and local officials, who argued the act amounted to an erasure of queer history at one of its most sacred landmarks.

Located in New York’s Greenwich Village, Stonewall is widely recognised as the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, following the 1969 uprising against police raids. The monument, which was designated in 2016 by President Barack Obama, has since served as both a memorial and an active symbol of queer resistance and visibility.

The flag’s removal earlier this year came amid broader tensions over the Trump administration’s approach to LGBTQ+ inclusion across federal sites and policies. Critics linked the decision to a wider pattern of rolling back diversity initiatives, including previous changes to how queer history is represented at Stonewall itself, with many references to transgender people excised from the Stonewall monument’s website and materials.

However, a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ+ and historic preservation groups quickly challenged the move. Plaintiffs argued the Pride flag was not only appropriate but essential to interpreting the site’s history. A legal settlement announced this week confirms the government will restore the flag within days and allow it to remain indefinitely, except for maintenance or practical reasons.

Under the agreement, the Pride flag will fly alongside the United States flag and the National Park Service flag on the monument’s main flagpole—an arrangement advocates say symbolically affirms LGBTQ+ history as part of the national story.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the Trump administration’s reversal “a victory for the LGBTQ+ community and for our entire city” and “a reminder that New Yorkers won’t let our history be rewritten.”