On February 10th, 2026, Pride flags were removed from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City by the federal government, continuing a string of actions from the Trump administration taken against the monument’s celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.
This comes after an issuance of a new policy from the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) in January stating that “only the U.S. Flag, flags of the DOI, and the POW/MIA flag will be flown by the NPS…”. Although the memo includes exemptions for flags that are meant to maintain historical value, like a former version of the American flag, this new policy does not include flags such as the Pride Flag, or other historically significant flags made by Americans, such as the Pan-African flag.
The Stonewall Inn and the surrounding West Village neighborhood, located in lower Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, have been the historical epicenter of the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement in the United States. The inn was originally operated by Mafiosos in 1967 as one of the few gay nightclubs in the city, and the only one where gay men could dance with each other. It was the frequent target of police raids, which would lead to the beatings and arrests of patrons (those who were crossdressing or in full drag were singled out and treated especially harsh; city laws across the US in 1969 put legal restrictions on people wearing non-gender confirming clothing).
During one of these raids on June 28th, 1969, patrons of the inn and other citizens of the predominantly LGBTQ+ West Village joined together in protests and riots against the city’s police and laws that prosecuted the queer citizens of New York, as well as those all across the United States. Key participants included Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Riveria, Bob Kohler, and Stormé DeLarverie.
The Stonewall Riots, occurring from June 28th to July 3rd of 1969, marked a turning point for the American LGBTQ+ civil rights movement. As a result of the riots, political organizations such as the Gay Liberation Front and the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries were founded (by the aforementioned Bob Kohler and Marsha P. Johnson, respectively), and the first ever pride marches in US history were held on the first anniversary of the riots. Since 1969, hundreds of organizations have been founded to take action for the freedom of sexual minorities across the world.
In 2004, Massachusetts became the first US state to legalize same-sex marriage, and from 2008 to 2013, 37 states and the District of Columbia followed suit. On June 26th, 2015, under the Obama administration, the Supreme Court officially struck down all state laws that restricted same-sex marriage, legalizing it in all 50 states. A year later, the Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, and surrounding areas of the West Village were all registered by former President Barack Obama as an official national monument.
The late 2000s and much of the 2010s seemed to be nothing short of a hard fought victory for LGBTQ+ Americans; seemingly, there was now a new era of progression and expanded civil liberties for the community. Now, with Donald Trump only about a year into his second term, the 2020s seem to be marking a stark reversal of the optimism that was gained in the years prior.
The removal of pride flags from the Stonewall National Monument does not mark the first time that the site has been attacked by the Trump administration in an attempt to scrub the site of its proud history. In February of 2025, following an executive order signed by President Trump stating that there are only two valid genders (That being Male and Female), the word “Trans” and the letter “T” in the LGBTQ+ acronym on the NPS’ webpage for the monument was removed. Later that same evening, the “Q+” and the word “Queer” were also removed from the webpage.
These actions by the Trump administration are directly attempting to eliminate key parts of LGBTQ+ history. Without political activists like Marsha P. Johnson (transgender) and Stormé DeLarverie (queer), the Stonewall Riots and other pivotal events in the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights in America would have never occurred or been established.
Other examples of Donald Trump’s militant actions against the LGBTQ+ community include banning transgender people from enlisting in the military, federal cuts for funding put towards LGBTQ+ medical care research, and the withholding of funding towards public schools that support “LGBTQ-inclusive education.” President Trump has also proposed reversing Title IX protections (protection for LGBTQ+ individuals in schools), amongst other civil protections that give LGBTQ+ citizens healthcare and workplace protections.
These anti-LGBTQ+ trends are continuing at a state level as well. In 2025, over 600 anti-Transgender and anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced in places such as Florida, Texas, Kentucky, and Indiana. These bills proposed gender-affirming care bans, “Don’t Say Gay” laws and other restrictions on LGBTQ+ education, sports participation restrictions, and repeal of access to legal recognition, such as the acknowledgment of a legal gender change on one’s ID or passport.
Despite these actions, the community is resilient as ever, bringing active attention to these injustices online and in protests across the US. Specifically in New York, activists alongside city officials, helped to raise the pride flag back to its original position in Christopher Park, two days after its initial removal from the Stonewall National Monument site. Furthermore, LGBTQ+ advocates in NYC and Washington DC took legal actions against the Trump Administration and the NPS for discrimination.
