The Removal of the Pride Flag From Stonewall is More Than Anti-LGBT+ Sentiment

Photo via Flickr

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This past week, the Trump Administration removed the Pride flag from Stonewall National Monument—which was dedicated in 2016 by former President Barack Obama to memorialize the “birthplace of the modern lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights movement.” The removal was quickly reversed on February 12, 2026, when the rainbow Pride flag was raised again by officials and activists as an act of defiance against the Trump regime.

Signed in January by Jennifer Brown, acting Director for NPS, the memorandum aims to restrict what flags may and may not be flown at national parks. The regulation provides some exceptions, none of which could be prescribed to the Pride flag, such as: historical flags, military flags, Tribal flags, and state flags—if there is joint jurisdiction of the national site.

However, Stonewall is not the only case of the federal government limiting what is allowed to be displayed at national parks. The city of Philadelphia recently sued the Trump administration after the NPS removed a slavery exhibit at Independence National Historic Park. 

Both the removal of the historical slavery exhibitions in Philadelphia and the Pride flag from Stonewall signifies a broader change the Trump administration is attempting to secure: the erasure of national liberation movements.

Nearly one year ago, President Trump signed an executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” to combat what the president believed to be “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history, replacing objective facts with a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth.” The order notes that the current display of the United States’ history is “revisionist” and undermines the American legacy through the use of a negative perspective.

In the order, President Trump specifically attacked Independence National Historic Park in Philadelphia, the Smithsonian Institution, and The National Museum of African American History and Culture for promoting a “corrosive ideology” via the Biden administration. Additionally, the order vilifies trans-women by excluding their existence from history because they are “men” and are not to be recognized as women.

The anti-trans rhetoric is common thought among conservative ideologues—like The Heritage Foundation—where they often note how trans athletes in women’s sports abuse women. Anti-trans sentiment has also plagued Stonewall National Monument. In February 2025, the words ‘transgender’ and ‘queer’ were removed from Stonewall’s national monument website as a result of another Trump directive claiming the existence of only two genders. 

There is an apparent, direct, and hate-fuelled agenda against trans individuals—who only make up about 1% of the U.S. population—but their livelihoods threaten the Trump administration.

Trans people were the centerpiece of the LGBT+ rights movement, with the Stonewall riots in 1969. These riots were a result of a police raid, but instead of dispersing, the patrons remained and fought, demanding civil rights. The protests spilled into the streets and throughout the West Village for six days. Such was an extremely pivotal moment in forming a collective movement for gay civil rights. 

One of the most prominent leaders of the gay civil rights movement was Marsha P. Johnson: a black, queer activist, an occasional drag queen, and a front-line participant in the Stonewall raid. The initial gay rights movement was diluted toward a more moderate position and became exclusionary toward trans people and queer people of color. Johnson’s position in the movement was one demanding progression for the rights afforded to LGBT+ people and liberation for her community as well.

The gay civil rights movement is a story of oppresseés overcoming their oppressors in a fight for liberation and equality, as is the abolition of slavery and the black civil rights movement. Both of these movements—and their historical memory—are slowly being clawed away. It is not merely the perversion of history, but what the history represents, what it shows Americans. History can show Americans what may happen when a collective forms and fiercely fights for their autonomy and the autonomy of their community.

Since President Trump’s second inauguration last year, there have been egregious changes to our nation. It has become evident that this administration feels entitled to its power—and almost indestructible because of it. 

This latest attack against LGBT+ people proves a furthering of this power; it is as if the president is taunting his constituents, saying, “Watch me erase gay history!” What makes this almost laughable is that the West Village is the epicenter for LGBT rights. The entirety of Christopher Street is donned with rainbow Pride flags, and inside the park, there are statues depicting two queer couples. The monument is a beacon of the queer community, and Trump’s position to erase their history will not eradicate their existence.

The goals for the current administration can be found within The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. The conservative think tank wants to reinstate old modes of society, one that relies on heteronormativity through vilifying LGBT+ people. 

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This article was edited by Ria Mukherjee and Isabella Valentino.