On Tuesday, the Trump administration was sued in response to their removal of the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. New York leaders rehung the Pride flag on February 12, but the future of its presence is not secure.
Working with the Washington Litigation Group and Lambda Legal, a group of advocates filed the lawsuit challenging the federal government’s claims of the legal legitimacy of the flag’s removal. The advocate group includes The Gilbert Baker Foundation, Village Preservation, and Equality New York.
The federal government claims that Department of the Interior rules maintain that anything but the US flag, Department of Interior flags, or POW/MIA flags are not allowed to fly in national parks. As a national monument, Stonewall is under the jurisdiction of the National Parks.
The lawsuit argues that this is incorrect, that the rules allow the National Parks Service to fly “flags that provide historical context to national monuments,” which is exactly what the Pride flag represents at Stonewall.
The Stonewall Monument is located across from the Stonewall Inn, where the Stonewall riots took place in 1969. The Inn is home to a gay bar that was underground in the 60s. In July of 1969, a police raid took place at the bar, resulting in a days-long riot and protests. The event was a historic milestone in the fight for civil and LGBTQ+ rights.
The lawsuit points to the flags that continue to fly at other national monuments, including Confederate flags. The removal of the Pride flag from Stonewall is a clear act of discrimination with the intent of silencing the queer community.
Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s mayor, spoke out on X: “I am outraged by the removal of the Rainbow Pride Flag from Stonewall National Monument. New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history.”
Time and time again, the federal government tries to take away our culture, and quiet our fury, our pride. The queer community is taking hits. They think we won’t notice. They think we won’t fight back. They are mistaken.
We will not to be silenced.
Photo courtesy of social media
