Under President Donald Trump‘s orders, the rainbow flag, a globally recognized symbol of LGBTQ rights and pride, was removed from the Stonewall National Monument on Monday, February 9.

The move is part of a pattern from the administration to demote the importance of LGBTQ issues. Last year, following Trump’s executive order declaring there are only two, unchangeable sexes, references to queer and transgender people were removed from the Stonewall National Monument’s webpage. While the page used to use “LGBTQ+”, last February, it was changed to use only “LGB”, and the same change was applied to all federal agency websites.

Located in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, the Stonewall National Monument was the world’s first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ history, created by Barack Obama in 2016. It is located directly opposite the Stonewall Inn, a historic gay bar and the site of a 1969 police raid that kicked off three days of protests and riots in the surrounding streets. The demonstrations are widely considered a pivotal moment for the modern gay rights movement, and the Stonewall National Monument is regarded as the world’s most famous LGBTQ monument.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the National Parks Service, citing Department of Interior guidance issued last month that requires “only the U.S. flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags are flown on NPS-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions.”

The statement declared, “Any changes to flag displays are made to ensure consistency with that guidance. Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance through exhibits and programs.” 

The removal of the pride flag sparked outrage from many who fear the Trump administration’s attempts to erase LGBTQ culture, including New York officials.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani denounced the action, writing 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.”

He continued, “Our city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to live up to it. I will always fight for a New York City that invests in our LGBTQ+ community, defends their dignity, and protects every one of our neighbors—without exception.”

Stacey Lentz, an owner of the Stonewall Inn, said, “To think you can go to Stonewall and just take down the Pride flag – that is telling of the time we are living in… it is unbelievable. The flag is not just an abstract symbol; it tells LGBTQ people, especially young ones, that their history will not be sidelined again.”

Lentz noted, “The concern isn’t about the symbolism of the flag necessarily; it’s about what decisions are being made when the narrative isn’t controlled by the people who have lived that history.”