Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Fresh Air Up First Featured Embedded The NPR Politics Podcast Throughline Trump's Terms More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Trump administration removes Pride flag from Stonewall National Monument The National Park Service took down a Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, a landmark of the LGBTQ rights movement. National Trump administration removes Pride flag from Stonewall National Monument February 11, 20267:00 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By Steve Kastenbaum Trump administration removes Pride flag from Stonewall National Monument Listen · 2:34 2:34 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5709015/nx-s1-9643750" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript The National Park Service took down a Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, a landmark of the LGBTQ rights movement. Sponsor Message
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Many people are outraged after the Trump administration took down a large pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York's Greenwich Village neighborhood. It's considered a birthplace of the gay rights movement. Reporter Steve Kastenbaum was there.
STEVE KASTENBAUM: I'm standing at the gates of the monument, and at the other end, a small flagpole is now barren, just a few steps away from the Stonewall Inn. It's the bar where the gay rights movement was born. This monument commemorates the night in June of 1969 when police raided that bar, and community members fought back, sparking several days of protests.
STACY LENTZ: It's sacred ground, and it's not just really relevant to folks here in the West Village, in New York City or the U.S. This is the global birthplace of the modern-day LGBTQ rights movement.
KASTENBAUM: Stacy Lentz is co-owner of the Stonewall Inn.
LENTZ: For them to take the flag out of what is considered the first and only LGBTQ monument in the United States and try to say it's political or identity-tied politics or whatever they want to say is absolutely insane.
KASTENBAUM: She said the flag was not flying at the monument as a political statement. It disappeared a few weeks after the Department of the Interior issued guidance on displaying non-agency flags in the National Park System. It said that only the U.S. flag and Department of the Interior flag were permitted. Trans rights activist Angelica Christina was born 15 years after the Stonewall rebellion took place.
ANGELICA CHRISTINA: What this space means to me is a sense of belonging and a sense of community.
KASTENBAUM: The flag's removal was upsetting to Angelica, but she wasn't completely stunned because a year ago, references to transgender and queer people were removed from the Stonewall Monument's website.
ANGELICA: And now a year later, I'm sadly not surprised that they had the audacity to remove the eight-colored flag right from our neighborhood, right from our safe home, because let's be clear, the West Village has always been a safe space for LGBTQIA+ people.
KASTENBAUM: While the flagpole stands empty, smaller gay and transgender pride flags still decorate other parts of the monument. Local elected leaders are making plans to try to return a full-size pride flag to the pole later in the week.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Kastenbaum at the Stonewall National Monument in New York.
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