NY Officials Raise Rainbow Flag at Stonewall in Rebuke of Trump Administration

The defiant flag-raising comes after the National Park Service removed the LGBTQ+ symbol from the Stonewall National Monument.

Published on Feb. 13, 2026

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New York politicians defiantly raised a rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument on Thursday, rebuking the Trump administration's decision to remove the well-known symbol of LGBTQ+ pride from the landmark site. The initial flag-raising was short-lived, with activists promptly taking it down and raising it again on the same pole as the American flag.

Why it matters

The removal of the rainbow flag from the Stonewall National Monument, which commemorates the 1969 police raid that sparked the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, is seen by activists as a deliberate insult that compounds other recent changes they find objectionable and ominous, such as eliminating many references to transgender people at the monument.

The details

The park service has said it's complying with federal guidance on flags, including a January 21 memo that largely restricts the agency to displaying those of the United States, the Department of the Interior and POW/MIA recognition, with exceptions that include providing 'historical context'. However, activists who had pressed for the flag display consider its removal a form of 'identity theft' where the new Trump administration is 'literally stealing our pride'.

  • On February 13, 2026, New York politicians defiantly raised a rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument.
  • Until a few days ago, the rainbow flag had flown for several years on a flagpole in the park at the heart of the National Park Service-run site.

The players

Brad Hoylman-Sigal

Manhattan Borough President who helped raise the rainbow flag at the Stonewall National Monument.

Ken Kidd

An activist who aided early efforts to get the rainbow flag installed permanently at the Stonewall National Monument.

Zohran Mamdani

New York City Mayor who complained about the removal of the rainbow flag from the Stonewall National Monument.

Kathy Hochul

Governor of New York who complained about the removal of the rainbow flag from the Stonewall National Monument.

Chuck Schumer

U.S. Senate Democratic leader who complained about the removal of the rainbow flag from the Stonewall National Monument.

Kirsten Gillibrand

U.S. Senator from New York who complained about the removal of the rainbow flag from the Stonewall National Monument.

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What they’re saying

“We did it.”

— Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan Borough President

“The new Trump administration is literally stealing our pride, or attempting to. It is a form of identity theft, where they are truly trying to take away those symbols of what we stand for — those symbols of our history, those symbols of our progress, those symbols of our future.”

— Ken Kidd, Activist

What’s next

The park service has not answered specific questions about the Stonewall site and the flag policy, including whether any flags were removed from other parks.

The takeaway

The removal of the rainbow flag from the Stonewall National Monument, a site that commemorates a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history, is seen by activists as a deliberate attempt by the new Trump administration to erase LGBTQ+ identity and progress, sparking defiant action from New York officials to restore the symbol of pride.