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New York Episcopalians reaffirm LGBTQ+ support after Pride flag removed from Stonewall Monument

February 17, 2026

[Episcopal News Service] Episcopal leaders in the Diocese of New York are affirming their commitment to serve and support the LGBTQ+ community after the National Park Service removed a large Pride flag from Stonewall National Monument last week. “This is the evident intention by the Trump administration to continue assaults on the queer community and their civil rights and liberties – their rights to be who they are,” the Rev. Caroline Stacey, rector of St. Luke in the Fields Episcopal Church in New York’s West Village, told Episcopal News Service.  The rainbow flag was removed from a flagpole in response to President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” The executive order forbids federally operated parks, museums and landmarks from showcasing materials that, in the Trump administration’s view, “inappropriately disparage Americans past or living.” Local leaders and activists have since re-raised the flag. “The fact that the flag is back is, of course, wonderful. However, it doesn’t seem to indicate a change of heart in the Trump administration’s anti-American policies,” Stacey said. St. Luke in the Fields, which is located about two blocks from the Stonewall National Monument, has been an active and affirming presence for the LGBTQ+ community since the 1980s, when it was known for openly ministering to people living with and dying from HIV/AIDS. Stonewall National Monument is the site of the Stonewall riots, also known as the Stonewall Uprising, a series of gay liberation protests that took place in 1969 in response to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar that’s still in operation. In 2016, former President Barack Obama designated Stonewall the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and history. “The [Trump] administration ordered the Pride flag removed from the Stonewall memorial – another desperate attempt to erase our history. It won’t work,” the Diocese of New York said in a Feb. 11 statement on Facebook. “The lesson of Stonewall is our dignity cannot be erased and that our people cannot be silenced.” The Diocese of New York’s LGBTQ+ Concerns Committee works with partner organizations, such as Integrity New York and the Interfaith Task Force for LGBTQ Youth, to advocate for policies that advance equality and full inclusion for the LGBTQ+ community locally and nationally. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York announced in a Feb. 15 X post that he will propose legislation that would make the Pride flag a permanent part of Stonewall National Monument, protecting it from future removal attempts. On Feb. 16 a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore an open-air exhibit about slavery featuring a panel on the Rev. Absalom Jones at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was removed as part of the same executive order.  The rainbow flag – designed by Gilbert Baker and other artists in 1978 by commission from Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California – reflects the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender. More people and institutions, including Episcopal churches, are also now flying the Progress Pride flag, a variation on the traditional Pride flag designed in 2018 by Daniel Quasar. The variation includes white, pink and light blue stripes to represent the transgender community, a brown stripe to represent communities of color and a black stripe in remembrance of the 42.3 million people who have died by HIV/AIDS since 1981 – many of whom were LGBTQ+. “Thank God we’re not alone in New York, but in places like St. Luke in the Fields, we continue to fly on our block the trans and Pride flag as a symbol of safety and belonging and security,” Stacey said. “As a church that stands with Jesus and goes where he goes, we are called to create places of safety and belonging and inclusion and welcome to everyone.” New York Bishop Matthew Heyd told ENS in a Feb. 17 interview that, no matter what the Trump administration requires of government-owned spaces, the government cannot dictate how congregations express their faith in church-owned spaces. Therefore, “We will continue to recognize and celebrate the great diversity of God’s people and how we’re made. … Our strongest witness is from our local congregations.” “Over the last year, we’ve been talking a lot about what it means to support our LGBTQ siblings in the Diocese of New York, and people’s experience, especially our trans siblings, has been threatened by the current administration,” Heyd said. “We are going to continue being who we are, which means that we’re going to fly Pride flags and celebrate the gift that is our LGBTQ community, for the church and for the world.” -Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.