The Trump administration has agreed to continue flying a rainbow Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York following a legal settlement
New York: The Trump administration has agreed to maintain a rainbow Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, reversing its earlier decision to remove the flag in February.
The move comes as part of a legal settlement with LGBTQ+ advocacy organisations and historic preservation groups that had challenged the removal in court.
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A judge is still required to approve the agreement before it takes full effect.
Government confirms continued display at Stonewall site
According to court filings, the US Interior Department and National Park Service have confirmed their intention to keep the Pride flag flying at the monument, with limited exceptions for maintenance or operational requirements.
The agreement states that the flag will remain a permanent part of the site’s display arrangement going forward.
Under the settlement, the Stonewall flagpole will display three flags within a week — the United States flag, the National Park Service flag, and the Pride flag.
The Pride flag will be placed between the other two flags on the same pole at the Manhattan monument, which commemorates a key site in LGBTQ+ civil rights history.
Background: significance of Stonewall National Monument
The Stonewall National Monument honours the 1969 Stonewall uprising, widely regarded as a turning point in the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement in the United States.
The site, located near the Stonewall Inn in New York City, became the first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history when it was designated in 2016.
In 2022, during the Biden administration, the Pride flag was formally installed at the site as part of efforts to better represent LGBTQ+ history in public spaces.
The flag was removed in February following federal guidance that largely restricted National Park Service flag displays to official government banners such as the US flag, Department of the Interior flag, and POW/MIA flag, with limited exemptions.
Officials had stated the removal aligned with internal policy guidelines governing flag displays across federally managed sites.
Legal challenge and public backlash
The decision to remove the Pride flag sparked legal action from LGBTQ+ groups and historic preservation advocates, who argued that the move undermined the symbolic importance of the Stonewall site.
The removal also triggered public demonstrations, with activists and local political leaders reinstalling a Pride flag at the monument shortly after the initial decision.
Critics viewed the removal as a setback for LGBTQ+ visibility at a landmark central to civil rights history.
Broader debate over national monuments and representation
The dispute has become part of a wider national debate over how federal sites represent historical narratives and minority communities.
National Park Service policies on displays and interpretive materials have increasingly come under scrutiny amid broader discussions on diversity, historical framing, and public symbolism at federally managed monuments.
The settlement now restores the Pride flag’s presence at Stonewall, at least for the time being, pending judicial approval.
(With AP inputs)
Published: 13 Apr 2026, 11:26 pm IST
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