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Stonewall National Monument Pride Flag in New York City

Gilbert Baker Foundation v. U.S. Department of the Interior

Status:

Open

Court:

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York

Issues:

Anti-LGBT Policies

Clients:

Gilbert Baker Foundation
Charles Beal
Village Preservation
EQNY Fund, Inc. d/b/a/ Equality New York 

Attorneys:

Lambda Legal

  • Karen Loewy
  • Douglas Curtis
  • Omar Gonzalez-Pagan
  • Jennifer Pizer
  • Camilla Taylor
  • Kenneth Upton, Jr.
  • Nephetari Smith

Washington Litigation Group

The Stonewall National Monument is the first national monument in the United States dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights. It commemorates the 1969 Stonewall uprising and the fight for LGBTQ+ equality sparked by the uprising.  

In 2022, acknowledging the significance of the Pride flag to the monument and the LGBTQ+ community, the National Park Service installed a permanent flagpole inside the federal monument and sent a representative to raise a Pride flag. On or about February 9, 2026, without any warning or notice to the community, the Trump Administration removed the Pride flag, claiming its policies prohibited flying it. 

On February 17, 2026, Lambda Legal and the Washington Litigation Group filed suit to challenge this unlawful removal on behalf of LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and community members who have played central roles in establishing the Stonewall National Monument, protecting the Pride flag’s role as a central symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, and fighting to have the official National Park Service-sanctioned Pride flag restored.  

The lawsuit challenges the removal of the Pride flag from the Monument as violating the Administrative Procedure Act and asks the court to order the government to reinstate it.