New Yorkers defied the federal government recently by re-raising the rainbow colors of the Pride flag above the Stonewall National Monument where it belongs, days after the Trump administration had it taken down.
This act of civil disobedience, at the Greenwich Village site where the modern gay rights movement began nearly 60 years ago, was important not just for the city’s LGBTQ+ community but for the country at large.
It was a measure of defiance against unjust policies from a presidential regime openly hostile to civil rights — and make no mistake, the civil rights of LGBTQ+ Americans are the rights of all Americans.
When they are attacked and diminished, we are all attacked and diminished.
Since President Trump returned to office in January 2025, he has waged war against the gay community of America. This includes ending funding for hospitals that administer gender-affirming care, overturning certain civil rights under the law for the transgender community, eliminating transgender references on the Stonewall Monument’s official website, and the recent removal of the Pride flag from Stonewall itself.
People who truly believe in the concepts of freedom and small government — that individuals ought to be able to live the lives they want without fear of reprisal or repression — would never support this ongoing attack on this or any other community in America.
What is particularly appalling is the apparent silence of LGBTQ+ members of the Republican Party. When our sister publication, Gay City News, reached out for comment about the Stonewall flag’s removal, neither the Log Cabin Republicans (the country’s biggest Republican LGBTQ+ association) nor Staten Island City Council Member David Carr, an openly gay Republican, bothered to respond with even a boilerplate statement.
The silence is as deafening as it is shameful. It is a profile in cowardice at a time when the country needs the courage of a united stand against attacks on the civil rights of Americans.
Regardless of party, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other difference we may have, all of us need to come together and defend each other’s civil rights whenever and wherever they are attacked. To quote the words of Abraham Lincoln, the first and perhaps greatest Republican president, “Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”
The rainbow colors above Stonewall must continue to fly. Transgender Americans must be more than just seen; they must have their unalienable rights protected. Hospitals must be allowed to administer gender-affirming care without fear of government reprisal. All LGBTQ+ Americans ought to live their lives free of government persecution of any kind.
And all of us, as Americans, must realize this basic truth: If one community among us is dehumanized and denied their rights to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” every other community will soon suffer the same fate. Only one thing can stop it: The need to unite in defense of each other.
