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Trump administration agrees to keep Pride flag at Stonewall monument

Sheila Flynn
News imageReuters An out of focus rainbow Pride flag flies in the foreground as a small group of people raise their arms in celebration at the Stonewall Monument site. Reuters
Activists celebrate after relocating the pride flag to the original federal flagpole

A Pride flag will again be displayed at New York's Stonewall monument after the Trump administration settled a lawsuit brought by LGBT and other groups following its removal in February.

The national monument is across from the Stonewall Inn, a historic gay bar where a 1969 police raid helped spark the LGBT rights movement.

It had been stripped of the flag by the National Park Service, in order to comply with Department of the Interior regulations that say federal flagpoles in park-run sites must only display designated flags unless the flags provide historical context.

The removal sparked an outcry, with opponents raising their own Pride flag at the monument.

The rainbow flag had been installed at the site under former President Joe Biden.

Various nonprofit groups and historic preservation groups filed suit after it was removed. The Trump administration's agreement to reinstall the flag was outlined in court settlement papers on Monday.

Plaintiffs included the Gilbert Baker Foundation, named for the creator of the Pride flag, with the organisation's president on Monday calling the rainbow banner "a global emblem of hope, visibility, and the ongoing struggle for equality.

"Its presence at Stonewall, the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, is both historically and culturally indispensable," said Charles Beal in a statement posted on the foundation's site.

"Restoring the flag affirms the truth of our history and the legitimacy of our continued fight for dignity and inclusion."

Under the settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, the Trump administration agreed to return the rainbow flag to the monument's official flagpole within seven days and maintain it at the site permanently.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the return "a victory for the LGBTQ+ community and for our entire city".

"It's a reminder that New Yorkers won't let our history be rewritten," he said on X.

Three flags will now hang on the federal flagpole at the monument: the American flag, the rainbow Pride flag and the park service flag.

Former President Barack Obama designated the 7.7 acre Stonewall monument in 2016.