Overview
- Lambda Legal and the Washington Litigation Group filed a federal suit in Manhattan for the Gilbert Baker Foundation, Village Preservation, Equality New York, and others, alleging violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and preservation laws and asking the court to restore the Pride flag at Stonewall.
- The National Park Service removed the flag on Feb. 9 under a Jan. 21 directive limiting NPS‑managed poles to the U.S., Interior, and POW/MIA flags with narrow historical exceptions, which plaintiffs argue should cover the Stonewall Pride flag.
- Plaintiffs cite continued display of other historically contextual flags at some sites as evidence of selective enforcement, arguing the agency acted arbitrarily and ignored Stonewall’s founding interpretive documents.
- Local activists and New York City officials re-raised a Pride flag at the monument after the removal, while the Interior Department condemned the action as “political pageantry” and said it will adhere to the new guidance.
- A separate Massachusetts lawsuit by park‑ranger and advocacy groups challenges wider Interior and NPS changes to exhibits and signage after a 2025 executive order, as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer files a bill to designate the Pride flag as a congressionally authorized flag and require it to fly at Stonewall.