New York officials re-raise pride flag at Stonewall after Trump administration removal

New York officials re-raised the LGBTQ+ pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument on Thursday afternoon, restoring the banner two days after the Trump administration removed it from the historic site.

State Sen. Erik Bottcher and other local officials raised the flag at 4 p.m., drawing hundreds of gathered supporters. The reinstatement came after elected officials condemned the removal and pledged to restore the flag themselves rather than wait for federal action.

The pride flag was taken down on Monday in response to a Trump administration memo issued last month that restricts which flags may fly at national park sites. According to the directive, only the United States flag, Department of the Interior flags, and POW/MIA flags are permitted at such locations.

At a news conference Thursday, officials articulated their opposition to the removal. Councilman Chi Ossé, a co-chair of the City Council's LGBTQ+ caucus, said: "The most Stonewall thing that we could possibly do is put that flag back up ourselves instead of waiting for the president."

Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the Manhattan borough president, announced that the flag would be reinstalled at 4 p.m. "in the memory of those whose shoulders we stand on," according to reporting from the scene.

The Stonewall National Monument is recognized as the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ movement. One attendee at Thursday's gathering told reporters: "This is a local park. Our people fought for that flag, and the right to be who they are."

Officials said they would work with activists to coordinate the flag's restoration, setting up what they framed as a response to what they characterized as an assault on diversity initiatives at a federal site dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights history.