Hours after news broke that the National Park Service would no longer allow Pride flags to fly at the Stonewall National Monument — the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement in the United States — the Washington Blade spoke with New York State Sen. Erik Bottcher, who represents the area surrounding the Stonewall Inn and the national monument.

During the interview, Bottcher, who is gay, spoke about the policy change and outlined steps he plans to take in the coming days to push for its reversal.

“This is another act of erasure,” Bottcher told the Blade. “It’s a cowardly attempt to rewrite history and to intimidate our community. This is Stonewall — it’s where we fought back, where we ignited a global movement for equality — and we refuse to go back. We’re not going to accept these acts of erasure.”

The Stonewall Inn became a flashpoint in 1969 after NYPD officers raided the bar, part of a longstanding pattern of police harassment of LGBTQ spaces. The raid sparked days of protest and resistance along Christopher Street, now widely recognized as the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ rights movement.

While the events are often referred to as the “Stonewall Riots,” many activists and historians prefer the term “Stonewall Uprising,” emphasizing that the resistance was a response to systemic oppression rather than senseless violence. LGBTQ patrons and community members fought back — shouting “Gay Power!” and “Liberate Christopher Street!” — as crowds grew and frustration with police abuse boiled over.

Since the uprising, LGBTQ people and allies have gathered annually in June to commemorate Stonewall and to celebrate Pride, honoring the movement that placed LGBTQ voices at the center of the fight for equality.

In June 2016, then President Barack Obama officially designated the space as the Stonewall National Monument, making it the United States’s first national monument designated for an LGBTQ historic site.

Now, nearly 10 years later, President Trump’s appointed NPS acting director Jessica Bowron changed policy on Jan. 21 regarding which flags are allowed to be flown in national parks. Many, including Bottcher, say this is part of a larger targeted and deliberate attempt by the administration to erase LGBTQ history.

“It’s clear they’re making a conscious decision to erase the symbols of our community from a monument to our community’s struggle,” he said. “This is a calculated and premeditated decision, and it could be — and should be — reversed.”

“Let’s be clear,” Bottcher added, “they wish we didn’t exist … But we’re not going anywhere. We refuse to go back into the shadows.”

When asked why it is critical to challenge the policy, Bottcher emphasized the importance of visibility in preserving LGBTQ history.

“This is why it’s so important that we not let this stand,” he said. “Visibility is critical. When people see us, learn about us, and get to know us, that’s how we break down prejudice and stereotypes. We cannot allow them to push us back into the shadows.”

Other LGBTQ leaders and elected officials were quick to condemn the removal of the Pride flag, which had flown since the site’s official designation as a national monument.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the decision “outrageous.”

“I am outraged by the removal of the Rainbow Pride Flag from Stonewall National Monument,” Mamdani said in a statement. “New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change or silence that history.”

“Our city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to live up to it,” he added. “I will always fight for a New York City that invests in our LGBTQ+ community, defends their dignity, and protects every one of our neighbors — without exception.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also condemned the move.

“The removal of the Pride Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall National Monument is a deeply outrageous action that must be reversed immediately,” Schumer said in a statement to The Advocate. “Stonewall is a landmark because it is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, and symbols of that legacy belong there by both history and principle.”

Cathy Renna, communications director for the National LGBTQ Task Force, said the flag’s removal will not erase the movement it represents.

“They can take down a flag, but they can’t take down our history,” Renna said. “Stonewall is sacred ground rooted in resistance, liberation, and the legacy of trans and queer trailblazers who changed the course of history.”

Human Rights Campaign National Press Secretary Brandon Wolf echoed that sentiment.

“Bad news for the Trump administration: these colors don’t run,” Wolf said. “The Stonewall Inn and Visitors Center are privately owned, their flags are still flying high, and that community is just as queer today as it was yesterday.”

Tyler Hack, executive director of the Christopher Street Project, said the removal was aimed squarely at LGBTQ visibility.

“The Pride flag was removed from Stonewall for one reason: to further erase queer and trans people from public life,” Hack said. “Stonewall marks the moment when queer and trans people fought back and demanded dignity. Our history is not theirs to erase.”

Bottcher closed with a promise to his constituents — and to the broader LGBTQ community — that the Pride flag’s removal would not be permanent.

“We will not be erased. We will not be silenced,” he said. “And the Pride flag will fly again at the birthplace of our movement.”

A rainbow Pride flag flying at the Stonewall National Monument in New York was removed at the direction of Trump administration officials at the National Park Service, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to the Blade on condition of anonymity.

The source said the move had been in the works for weeks and is part of ongoing efforts by the Trump-Vance administration to erase LGBTQ identity from federally controlled landmarks.

In response to the Blade’s request for information about the new flag policy, the National Park Service provided the following statement:

“Current Department of the Interior policy provides that the National Park Service may only fly the U.S. flag, Department of the Interior flags, and the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag on flagpoles and public display points. The policy allows limited exceptions, permitting non-agency flags when they serve an official purpose. These include historical context or reenactments, current military branch flags, flags of federally recognized tribal nations affiliated with a park, flags at sites co-managed with other federal, state, or municipal partners, flags required for international park designations, and flags displayed under agreements with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for Naturalization ceremonies.”

The statement also included official guidance on the display of non-agency flags issued by Trump-appointed National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron.

The Blade reached out to other organizations to confirm the status of the Pride flag last week, including the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the National Parks Conservation Association. None were able to provide details about whether the flag was still flying at that time but it has since been removed.

This action aligns with other moves targeting and erasing LGBTQ history. In September, the Blade reported that three organizations originally slated to receive more than $1.25 million from the National Park Service’s Underrepresented Communities Grant Program would no longer receive funding: In Washington, D.C., the Preservation League had been awarded $75,000 to document LGBTQ+ historic resources. In Providence, R.I., the Preservation Society was slated for $74,692 to conduct an LGBTQ+ survey and prepare a National Register nomination. And in New York, the Fund for the City of New York, Inc., had been awarded $32,000 to nominate the residence of Bayard Rustin — the iconic civil rights and LGBTQ activist — as a National Historic Landmark. 

As the Trump-Vance administration continues to ramp up conservative policies at the federal level, Democrats on Tuesday scored big wins in New Jersey and in New York City.

Former Navy lieutenant and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill won the New Jersey governor’s race, while Zohran Mamdani won New York City’s mayoral race over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, becoming the first Indian and Muslim person to hold the office.

Off-year elections are widely considered to be a kind of report card for the sitting president. When there’s general disapproval of the current commander-in-chief, the opposing party tends to perform better. If this past election cycle is any indication of how the American public views the Trump-Vance administration, things aren’t looking good for the Republican Party.

One of the night’s biggest winners was Sherrill, who defeated former Republican state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, becoming New Jersey’s first Democratic female governor in the state’s history. She was also endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign for her work in advocating for the LGBTQ community.

Before becoming governor-elect of the Garden State, Sherrill served as a federal prosecutor and attorney, then as a member of multiple committees during her tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives. The most notable include the Armed Services Committee, which oversees military-related legislation, and the Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, which works to “strengthen the economy, rebuild [our] supply chains, speak out for human rights, [and] stand against military aggression” as China emerges as a global power.

In addition to those committee roles, Sherrill was a member of several Congressional caucuses — including the Congressional Equality Caucus, which advances LGBTQ rights nationwide; the Black Maternal Health Caucus, which aims to improve maternal health outcomes for Black women; and the New Democrat Coalition, which promotes centrist, or slightly left-of-center, policy initiatives in the House.

During her campaign, Sherrill focused on lowering the cost of living in New Jersey and addressing the surging cost of energy through an electricity price freeze.

Her campaign, however, wasn’t without controversy.

Ciattarelli criticized her over a cheating scandal at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994, where she was ultimately barred from walking at graduation for refusing to turn in classmates who cheated. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore publicly condemned the Trump-Vance administration for releasing unredacted military records from Sherrill’s time at the academy, a move she also denounced in her victory speech, saying, “this nation has not ever been, nor will it ever be, ruled by kings.” The remark was a clear allusion to the massive “No Kings” protests and to President Donald Trump’s increasingly authoritarian rhetoric.

Another major win for Democrats came across the Hudson River with Mamdani’s victory in New York City’s mayoral race.

Mamdani ran a progressive campaign focused on improving the city for its most vulnerable residents — proposing free city buses, public childcare, city-owned grocery stores, expanded LGBTQ rights with particular attention to transgender rights amid a tumultuous time for that community, a rent freeze on rent-stabilized units, expanded affordable housing, public safety reform, and a $30 minimum wage by 2030. He plans to fund these initiatives through a tax increase on New York City residents earning $1 million or more annually.

Before becoming mayor-elect, Mamdani was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2020 and was re-elected twice before deciding to run for mayor.