Trump Admin Has Pride Flag Removed From Stonewall Monument
Trump Administration Has Pride Flag Removed From NYC’s Stonewall National Monument, Mayor Zohran Mamdani And Others Speak Out
As the Trump administration continues to use its political power to sway the so-called “culture war” back towards a whiter, more heteronoramtive, and exclusively cisgender America, a large Pride flag was quietly removed from the Stonewall National Monument in Manhattan after a directive from the federal government — because under the reign of President Donald Trump and his bigot brigade, all remnants of diversity must go.
From the New York Times:
The flag’s removal came weeks after the Department of the Interior issued federal guidance on displaying “non-agency” flags in the National Park System, which includes a small park in front of the Stonewall Inn, the bar for which the federal monument is named.
Elected officials and bar employees said they realized the rainbow flag was gone on Monday morning. On Tuesday, a bare flagpole stood on the monument’s grounds as steely clouds hung overhead.
Stacy Lentz, an owner of the bar, said its owners had been surprised by the removal, especially since a year has passed since the administration removed references to transgender people from the monument’s website and other materials.
“To think you can go to Stonewall and just take down the Pride flag — that is telling of the time we are living in,” Ms. Lentz said. “It is unbelievable. The flag is not just an abstract symbol; it tells L.G.B.T.Q. people, especially younger ones, that their history will not be sidelined again.”
It’s worth noting that last year — nearly one year ago today, in fact — the Trump administration directed the National Park Service to delete the word “transgender” from prominent spots on its Stonewall National Monument website, prompting protests in the city.
So, basically, when the administration isn’t having the National Park Service remove Black History, piece by piece, from its parks, it’s arbitrarily purging every property the federal government has control over of anything representing the LGBTQ+ community.
On Tuesday, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood in solidarity with the “modern LGBTQ+ rights movement” by tweeting his displeasure with the flag’s removal.
“I am outraged by the removal of the Rainbow Pride Flag from Stonewall National Monument,” Mamdani wrote. “New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history. 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.”
Meanwhile, Democratic New York state Sen. Erik Bottcher invited the public to join him and other local Democratic leaders and lawmakers to gather at the monument site to “re-raise” the flag on Thursday, Feb. 12.
The removal of the flag prompted protests on Tuesday, and, apparently, there is more resistance to come.
Stand up, N.Y. Stand up, America. The Trump administration and the MAGA world are on the ropes. We just have to keep fighting.
SEE ALSO:
Harriet Tubman Erased From Underground Railroad Webpage By Trump Admin
Pride Is Still Protest: World Pride in the Era of Trump 2.0
Trump Administration Has Pride Flag Removed From NYC’s Stonewall National Monument, Mayor Zohran Mamdani And Others Speak Out was originally published on newsone.com
