LGBTQ+ advocacy organisations have filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration over the removal of the Pride rainbow flag from the historic Stonewall National Monument in New York City.
Earlier this month, the National Park Service removed the flag from the globally recognised queer landmark without prior notice to the community and replaced it with a United States flag.
Officials claimed a new directive from the United States Department of the Interior prohibited the flying of the Pride flag at National Park sites.
The decision sparked outrage worldwide. Local politicians, activists and community members vowed to restore the flag and did so a few days later during a public event.
The Department of the Interior dismissed the ceremony as “political pageantry” but did not indicate whether or when it might remove the flag again.
The Pride flag is more than cloth; it’s a symbol of LGBTQIA+ resilience & the ongoing fight against injustice. Proud to help re-raise the flag at Stonewall National Monument—no matter how hard they try, Trump & Republicans can’t erase history. The flag rises again! 🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/tDtnNLG2cn
— Assemblymember Grace Lee 李榮恩 (@AMGraceLee) February 12, 2026
Legal Challenge Filed
In response to the flag’s removal, Lambda Legal and the Washington Litigation Group filed a lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of a coalition of LGBTQ+ advocates and community members.
“The Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument honors the history of the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation. It is an integral part of the story this site was created to tell,” said Douglas F. Curtis, Chief Legal Advocacy Officer at Lambda Legal. “Its removal continues the Trump Administration’s disregard for what the law actually requires in their endless campaign to target our community for erasure and we will not let it stand.”
The lawsuit, lodged in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, asks the court to declare the removal unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act and to order the government to reinstate the flag.
Alexander Kristofcak, a lawyer with the Washington Litigation Group, insisted that the Park Service’s policies permit the flying of flags that provide historical context at monuments.
“That is precisely what the Pride flag does,” said Kristofcak. “It provides important context for a monument that honors a watershed moment in LGBTQ+ history. At best, the government misread its regulations. At worst, the government singled out the LGBTQ+ community. Either way, its actions are unlawful.”
Stonewall’s Historic Significance
Charles Beal, President of the Gilbert Baker Foundation, named after the creator of the Pride rainbow flag, added: “The Pride flag is recognised globally as a symbol of hope and liberation for the LGBTQ+ community whose efforts and resistance define this monument. Removing it would, in fact, erase its history and the voices Stonewall honors.”
In 2016, President Barack Obama established America’s first LGBTQ+ national monument when he designated the Stonewall Inn a national monument.
The site is widely regarded as the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement after a 1969 police raid on the bar triggered riots that inspired the first Pride marches.
In addition to the bar, the monument includes the adjacent Christopher Park, as well as the surrounding streets and pavements.
