Representative Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat and former federal prosecutor known for his advocacy on civil rights and social justice issues, condemned the Trump administration for removing the Rainbow Pride Flag from the Stonewall National Monument. “The Trump administration is once again attacking our LGBTQ+ community by gratuitously and cruelly removing the Pride flag at Stonewall,” Goldman said. “We will not allow Trump to rewrite or erase LGBTQ+ history. The flag will fly again.”
The Trump administration is once again attacking our LGBTQ+ community by gratuitously and cruelly removing the Pride flag at Stonewall.
— Rep. Dan Goldman (@RepDanGoldman) February 10, 2026
We will not allow Trump to rewrite or erase LGBTQ+ history.
The flag will fly again. https://t.co/aP9LdO24g5
The flag, which had flown over the Manhattan monument commemorating the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, was quietly taken down following a federal directive issued by the Department of the Interior in late January. This marks the second time in under a year that the site has faced federal action, following the administration’s removal of references to transgender people from the monument’s website last February.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani also denounced the removal. “New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history,” he said. “Our city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to live up to it. 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.”
I am outraged by the removal of the Rainbow Pride Flag from Stonewall National Monument. New York is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and no act of erasure will ever change, or silence, that history.
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) February 10, 2026
Our city has a duty not just to honor this legacy, but to…
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the removal “deeply outrageous,” promising that the Pride flag would return. Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal described the decision as an example of the administration’s “meanspiritedness” and emphasized that the LGBTQ+ community would not passively allow its history and rights to be erased.
The removal of the Pride Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall National Monument is a deeply outrageous action that must be reversed right now. Stonewall is a landmark because it is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement, and symbols of that legacy belong there by both… pic.twitter.com/BjzLF1Me59
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 10, 2026
Since President Trump’s inauguration, his administration has taken steps to limit displays it deems inconsistent with its view of public spaces, including removing exhibits on slavery, climate change, and immigrant and labor history from national parks. The Park Service’s guidance on non-agency flags extends this effort, restricting symbolic flags on federal properties, including the Stonewall National Monument.
As Goldman said, “The flag will fly again,” a commitment that reflects both his personal advocacy and the broader determination of New York leaders and activists to preserve the legacy of the Stonewall movement.
