The Trump administration won’t be conceding to the demands of LGBTQ New Yorkers who want to see a Pride rainbow flag fly above the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village, with the federal Department of the Interior claiming it won’t allow any exceptions to the existing rules.
Word of the federal government’s line in the sand over its new rules that only U.S. flags can fly over monuments cared for by the National Parks Service came as scores of queer couples traveled to the monument on Valentine’s Day to celebrate the holiday and ensure their love won’t be stamped out.
“It was just confirmation (that they) can’t erase us,” 60-year-old Chris DiPietro said Saturday as he and his partner stared up at the Pride flag. “We’re here. This national monument is for this community and it needs to stay here.”
On Thursday, throngs of people showed up at the monument to raise the Pride flag back into place after it was unceremoniously removed from the monument flagpole last weekend.
National Park Service employees removed the flag following orders from a Jan. 21 memo from the U.S. Department of the Interior that indicates flagpoles and buildings under the jurisdiction of the U.S. General Services Administration, including at the Stonewall monument, “are not intended to serve as a forum for free expression by the public.”
“Only the U.S. flag, flags of the Department of the Interior, and the POW/MIA flag will be flown by the National Park Service in public spaces where the NPS is responsible for the upkeep, maintenance, and operation of the flag and flagpole,” the memo states.
In a statement given to NY1, a Department of the Interior spokesman called Thursday’s raising of the Pride flag “political pageantry” that “shows how utterly incompetent and misaligned the New York City officials are with the problems their city is facing.”
“Recent adjustments to flag displays at the monument were made to ensure consistency with federal guidance,” the agency said about the Pride flag’s removal. “Stonewall National Monument remains committed to preserving and interpreting the history and significance of this site through its exhibits, programs, and educational initiatives.”
Queer New Yorkers disagreed, claiming that the true significance of Stonewall cannot he appreciated without the Pride flag fluttering high overhead. Days of protests were held at the monument last week, ending in the flag-raising on Thursday with more than 2,000 people in attendance flooding Christopher Park and the surrounding streets.
The Pride flag remained in place on Saturday, although Department of Interior officials said the agency was “going to continue to adhere to the existing rules and not make exceptions for Stonewall,” according to NY1.
Emails from the Daily News to the Department of Interior were not returned.
The monument in Christopher Park is across from the site of the Stonewall Riots of 1969 that sparked the gay civil rights movement.
Although a larger flagpole stands outside the park, a smaller one — located inside the park — was added under the Biden administration expressly to fly a Pride flag as part of the Stonewall National Monument, which was designated under President Obama, officials said.
In a press release before the Pride flag was re-raised, elected officials, including Reps. Dan Goldman and Jerrold Nadler, Assembly members Deborah Glick and Tony Simone and state Sens. Erik Bottcher and Brian Kavanagh, said the national monument’s Pride flag “underscores the importance of supporting and protecting the LGBT community in the face of attacks by the Trump administration and extremist Republicans.”
Elected officials throughout the city have written Trump and the Department of Interior, demanding that the Pride flag remain on the flagpole next to the U.S. flag.
Valentine’s Day visitors at the Stonewall monument Saturday didn’t think the Pride flag would be fluttering from the flag pole in the next few days, but were glad to see it there while they could.
“I think that there’s a good chance that it can be taken down again,” said Dusty Phillips, 68, who visited the park from North Carolina with her partner. “They can take it down off the flagpole, but they’re not taking it away from me.”
Dozens of smaller Pride flags remained peppered throughout the park on Saturday, which the federal government has indicated it won’t remove.
“It’s a great day,” DiPietro said, gazing around the history-laden park and noting the holiday. “We can be here arm-in-arm and comfortable in our own skin in a city that we love.”
