Earlier this week, the Trump administration directed that a large Pride flag be removed from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, which is widely considered the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

In response, dozens of New Yorkers gathered at the monument Tuesday afternoon to protest the administration’s latest decision, which joins a string of government moves to scale back diversity initiatives, particularly those that affect the LGBTQ+ community. The National Park Service responded to critiques about the flag removal by citing a recent memo, which states that the agency now prohibits “non-agency flags and pennants” that are not the national flag or the Interior Department flag.

The Stonewall Inn was designated a national monument by the Obama Administration in 2016, to commemorate the pivotal events in LGBTQ+ history that have unfolded there—most notably a series of protests in June of 1969. Since then, Stonewall has become a hub and safe space for community events and organizations. "There's nothing that can erase the symbolism and history of Stonewall," writer and community organizer Adam Eli told Cosmo at last night's demonstration. "This is just a distraction." We spoke to attendees at the February 10 demonstration to get their thoughts on the decision and their messages for the Trump administration.


Adam Eli

Writer/community organizer

This is a small and pathetic symbolic gesture from a small and pathetic man. There's nothing that can erase the symbolism and history of Stonewall, and there's nothing that can take away the beauty and majesty of Gilbert Baker's incredible flag. This is just a distraction, and we have to keep our eye on the ball and fight this fascist, sad, small man and administration.

Ken Kidd

University administrator

Safe spaces [like Stonewall] are not only essential, they are sacred. This is a place where our foremothers and forefathers gave their lives so that we could have conversations about this today.

These spaces need to be honored, because if it weren't for them, I would not have the marriage to my husband that I have now. We would not have the hate crime legislation that we have now. That flag that symbolized love and unity and community. You stole that, but you cannot steal our pride. Those colors represented all sorts of things about us, and none of them was grift, and none of them was greed, and none of them was hate.

Angelica Christina

Actor/model/board member of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative

Back in 1969 [during the Stonewall riots], our community had had enough. They'd had enough of being targeted. They'd had enough of being brutalized. But now in 2026, we are still seeing these attacks on our community. We are being erased. We were erased from the Stonewall National Monuments website just a year ago. So this moment is so important because we cannot stand idly by while we're being erased. Regardless of how Trump tries to deflect from his own crimes, we will still exist. We will still stand strong. We will still proudly and unapologetically be LGBTQIA+.

Tabytha Gonzalez

Director of Policy & Advocacy at Destination Tomorrow

That flag was not a decoration; it was a declaration that we are here, we have survived, and we are not going anywhere. I belong to an organization that believes in creating safe spaces, and Stonewall has been a hallmark of safety for our community for years. We need safe spaces so we can come together, especially with the tyranny that is happening within this current political climate. So many people in the LGBTQ community, predominantly our trans and non-binary folks, are pushed to the margins.

Stacy Lentz

Co-owner, Stonewall Inn
Safe spaces are necessary now more than ever because of the attacks that are coming against the LGBTQ community. We are seeing rollbacks, especially on a state level, against not only trans folks and gender-affirming care, but also against LGBTQ adoption, and even some workplace protections are being overturned. Coming into the birthplace of the Pride movement and taking down the rainbow flag is another example of how they're trying to erase LGBTQ history, and LGBTQ history is American history.