Stonewall National Monument Flag – Photo: MDoculus via iStockphoto
The United States government will allow the rainbow Pride flag to fly permanently at the Stonewall National Monument after settling a lawsuit brought by New York and LGBTQ nonprofits over its removal earlier this year.
The flag was removed in February to comply with federal guidance from the U.S. Department of the Interior barring so-called “non-agency” flags within the National Park System. The memo specified that “only the U.S. flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags” could be flown on park property flagpoles.
The move sparked fierce backlash, with advocates accusing the Trump administration of trying to “erase” the LGBTQ community and its visibility.
Several protests were held at Christopher Street Park, part of the monument, where activists temporarily raised their own Pride flag, which has continued flying in a non-official capacity since then. One LGBTQ activist launched a GoFundMe to help nearby homes and businesses install security cameras to monitor the NPS flagpole and document any future attempts to remove the Pride flag.
A group of local nonprofits — including the Gilbert Baker Foundation, Village Preservation, and the LGBTQ rights group Equality New York — enlisted Lambda Legal and Washington Litigation Group to sue the Trump administration in federal court over the flag’s removal.
In their complaint, the organizations argued the government illegally targeted the LGBTQ community to send a message of disapproval.
The plaintiffs also argued the government’s guidance includes an exemption for flags providing “historical context” — noting the Pride flag marks the site of the Stonewall riots, widely credited with sparking the modern LGBTQ rights movement. The same exemption, they argued, allows Confederate flags at Civil War sites managed by the National Park Service, such as Gettysburg National Military Park.
The organizations and the U.S. government ultimately reached a settlement requiring the Pride flag to be rehung on the monument’s flagpole within seven days and to fly permanently alongside the American flag and the National Park Service flag.
The agreement also confirms the Pride flag complies with both the law and NPS policy, including the historical exemption. It assigned the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to oversee compliance with the settlement.
“This is a complete victory for our clients and for the LGBTQ+ community,” said Alexander Kristofcak, a lawyer with Washington Litigation Group and lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “The government has acknowledged what we argued from day one: the Pride flag belongs at Stonewall. The flag will be restored and it will fly officially and permanently. And we will remain vigilant to ensure that the government sticks to the deal.”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the flag’s return to the NPS flagpole a “victory for the LGBTQ community and for our entire city.”
Some New Yorkers who gathered at the monument when the agreement was announced said the settlement felt personal. Arman Guevar, a longtime New York City resident living with AIDS, told Gothamist the flag represents a small but meaningful space for LGBTQ people in a city and country where the community often feels under attack.
“You guys have the whole entire planet, mountains, whatever,” Guevar said, referring to the much larger heterosexual community. “We have this tiny little piece that represents us.”
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked to leave a Little Rock restaurant, with the owner citing concerns from LGBTQ employees over her political positions.
On March 13, Sanders dined at The Croissanterie, arriving unannounced with two guests, staff members, and her State Police Executive Protection Detail.
Her party had been seated for more than an hour and had already paid and tipped when she said the restaurant owner asked a member of her security detail to have them leave.
"Growing up, my family was politically aware," says Democratic California State Sen. Scott Wiener. "I remember in 1980, when Reagan was elected, I was 10 years old. I remember our house was a house of mourning that election night, and there was a sense in my home of just trepidation of what was going to happen because even though Reagan seems somewhat more benign than Trump, it was a very right-wing takeover.
"My family was very aware and attuned to what was happening, and especially as Jews, you're always attuned to who's taking over the government and what they could do."
Growing up in Southern New Jersey, in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Wiener, the son of an optometrist, was raised in a conservative Jewish family, with ancestors who fled the pogroms of Russia and Eastern Europe in the early 20th century before immigrating to the United States. While his hometown ultimately transitioned from a farm town into a more developed suburb, there was no local synagogue until Wiener's parents formed one with a dozen other Jewish families from the surrounding area.
An Ohio bill pushed by Republicans would create a new criminal offense of "unlawful adult cabaret performances," targeting what it deems "obscene" performances in public spaces where minors may be present.
Titled the "Indecent Exposure Modernization Act," the measure defines an "adult cabaret" as venues such as nightclubs, bars, restaurants, or bottle clubs -- regardless of whether they serve alcohol -- that feature performers who "appear in a state of nudity or seminudity," as well as live or recorded content depicting specific anatomical areas or sexual activity.
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