DOI responds to NYC Stonewall pride flag battle blasting Mamdani
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A battle is brewing between Democratic elected officials and the Trump administration in New York City, which includes flying the pride flag at the government monument outside the historic Stonewall Inn.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration removed the Pride flag from the national monument outside the Stonewall Inn, the site of a confrontation between police and gay bar patrons that many see as the beginning of the gay rights movement in the 1960s.
The administration says only American flags, Interior Department flags or POW flags are allowed to fly at national monuments, not political flags, and Pride flags continue to be displayed around the monument at the nearby Stonewall Inn.
The move sparked outrage from activists and Democratic leaders in New York City; among them was the city’s socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani. Published on X He said he was “outraged” and that “our city has a duty not only to honor this legacy, but to live up to it.”
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A controversy is brewing in New York after the Trump administration removed a Pride flag from a national monument. (Spencer Platt/Getty; Fox News Digital/Deirdre Heavey)
On Thursday, hundreds of protesters watched local officials raise the Pride flag again at the national monument on Fox 5 New York. reportedIt prompted a harsh response from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which manages the country’s national parks.
“Instead of meeting the basic needs of their constituents, city leaders appear to be more focused on theater than solutions,” an Interior Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Citizens wonder why elected officials prioritize headlines over warmth. Every day these problems go unaddressed, families are forced to live with the consequences of mismanagement and neglect.”
“Hundreds of families in New York City were left without power during this year’s bitterly cold weather, people are found dead in the streets, and trash is piling up so high it’s towering over residents. This is the New York City of Mayor Mamdani and city officials. While today’s political spectacle may be a distraction from their recent deadly failures, it would be a better use of their time to clean up the trash piled up on the city’s streets, make sure there are no more preventable deaths, and keep the electricity on for people. New York City.”
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Crowds watch outside Stonewall National Memorial as people participate in the 2025 NYC Pride Parade on June 29, 2025 in New York City. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital has reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment.
The Department of the Interior maintains that the recent adjustments to flag displays at the monument are part of “longstanding federal flag policy” and are to ensure “consistency with federal guidance.”
“Stonewall National Monument is committed to preserving and interpreting the history and significance of this site through its exhibits, programs and educational initiatives.”
A source familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital that no American flag had previously been displayed at the monument, and park officials had to purchase one to comply with US Rules.
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President Donald Trump answers questions from reporters after signing executive orders with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2025. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
The source explained that this issue does not specifically target the Stonewall Memorial, but is instead part of broader concerns about the politicization of national monuments by employees known as “Resistance Rangers” who are openly working from within against the Trump administration.
A. report Last fall, Outside Magazine noted similar incidents in which an upside-down American flag was displayed on Yosemite National Park’s famous El Capitan cliff, and in other national parks as part of a campaign by fired National Park Service employees, activists, and a group of unnamed employees within the National Park Service calling themselves “Resistance Rangers.”
President Barack Obama established Stonewall National Monument on June 24, 2016, designating the area around the Stonewall Inn in New York City as a protected historic site. This move marked the first time a national monument in the United States was dedicated to LGBTQ history.
