Protesters Re-raise Pride Flag at Stonewall Amid Trans Community Concerns
Thousands gathered outside the Stonewall Inn on a near-freezing night last week to re-raise the rainbow Pride flag in defiance of the Trump administration’s recent removal of the flag. The event was intended as a celebratory protest for the City LGBTQ+ community. However, trans activists present expressed disappointment, stating that raising the historic rainbow Pride flag instead of the more inclusive Progress Pride flag excluded their community.
Flag Removal Sparks Outcry
The controversy began on 9 February when passersby noticed the rainbow Pride flag, which had flown at the Stonewall Inn national monument commemorating the 1969 queer rights uprising, had been removed.
“I literally had a friend send me a little video. Somebody then reported it to the and the word got out quickly,”
said Charley Beale, president of the Gilbert Baker Foundation, named after the designer of the original 1978 flag. The foundation has been monitoring the Trump administration’s attempts to remove Pride flags nationwide.
The rainbow flag was removed without notice and replaced by an American flag. This action was justified by a January Trump administration memo restricting which flags can be displayed at national parks and historic sites.
The Interior Department stated to earlier this month that “the policy governing flag displays on federal property has been in place for decades. Recent guidance clarifies how that longstanding policy is applied consistently across NPS-managed sites.” It added, “Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance through exhibits and programs.”
Historical Context and Administration Actions
This was not the first attempt by the Trump administration to obscure the history and significance of the Stonewall Inn, designated a national monument under the Obama administration in 2016. Following Trump’s inauguration, the National Park Service (NPS) ceased flying the Progress Pride flag, which includes the trans flag colors and black and brown stripes recognizing queer people of color. The NPS later replaced it with the traditional rainbow flag, which was recently removed.
The administration also removed references to transgender people from the Stonewall monument’s website, effectively erasing history, despite Black trans women having led the queer rights uprising commemorated by the monument.
These actions coincide with the Trump administration’s issuance of several anti-transgender executive orders, including one declaring that the government would recognize only sex assigned at birth.
Community Response and Protests
The New York City LGBTQ+ community responded with multi-day protests outside the Stonewall Inn, culminating on 12 February when Democratic lawmakers re-raised the traditional Pride flag design that had been removed.
However, some activists expressed deep disappointment that lawmakers restored only the traditional flag rather than the Progress flag.
“It’s a ‘half measure’,
said Chloe Elentári, a trans woman and activist present at the protests.
“I want the progress flag so that we’re all included.”
Trans activist and playwright Mika Kauffman stated,
“I was there when they were raising the flag. It just felt extremely performative because it wasn’t an inclusive pride flag. Like, where are the trans colors? Trans people are dying, black trans women and brown women are the reason that our rights exist in the first [place]. What are we doing here?”
Legal Action and Calls for Inclusion
On 17 February, leaders of various nonprofits filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration’s removal of the Pride flag at Stonewall. They expressed support for raising an inclusive Pride Progress flag going forward.
“Trans people were integral to the events of June 1969 that the Stonewall National Monument memorializes, and they’ve been an integral part of the movement for LGBTQ rights ever since, and they are part of the LGBTQ community,”
said Andrew Berman, Executive Director at Village Preservation.
“Their erasure, which began even before the removal of the flag, has clearly been part of the federal government’s agenda.”
Beale agreed that the Gilbert Baker Foundation would support raising a Progress flag or any revised inclusive Pride flag but expressed concern that such debates might divide the community.
“There are some activists that are concerned, and I’m just like, just be chill. I mean, we’re happy to get anything with at least six colors up there. You know what I mean? I will not get into flag wars, and I don’t think it’s worth the debate about this flag versus that flag, because I’ve been in these debates and it’s a reductive downward spiral,”
Beale said.
“It’s never positive or affirming. People start taking sides.”
Trans activists like Kauffman disagree.
“Trans people are just asking for human decency and respect. It is not a matter of infighting at all. It is a matter of visibility and support,”
Kauffman said.
“We are simply trying to point out an issue that continually takes us backwards or keeps us stagnant rather than helping us move forward.”
Chloe Elentári emphasized,
“We’re saying, no, we want to be included on the flag, because here’s the bottom line: it’s trans women and trans people of color who are the ones who are being actively murdered at this point.”
At least 27 transgender people were killed in violent acts in the United States last year, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Xaddy Addy, a Black trans person, stated,
“It’s really not just about the flag; it’s about the fact that lives are at stake. When you put up the Progress flag, that means you are advocating for every single person under the scope, under the umbrella.”
Unity and Moving Forward
Beale said the primary goal of the Gilbert Baker Foundation is unity within the LGBTQ+ community.
“Fly the flag that speaks to your soul,”
he said.
“There’s room in the sky for all of them.”
