Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced Sunday afternoon that he plans to introduce legislation “to designate the Pride flag as a congressionally authorized flag.” Schumer made the announcement after the National Park Service removed a Pride flag from a flagpole inside the Stonewall National Monument near Christopher Park in New York City’s Greenwich Village. The agency said the change was required under federal guidance that limits what can fly on NPS-managed flagpoles to “only the US flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags,” with limited exceptions.
By designating the Pride flag as a “congressionally authorized flag,” his bill would make it eligible to be flown on federal property where NPS rules require authorization, including sites like Stonewall.
According to ABC, at a Sunday rally in Greenwich Village, Schumer said the change would mean it “can be flown here and everywhere else” without being taken down. In March 2025, President Donald Trump directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in an executive order to remove what it described as “divisive” or “anti-American” content from museums and national parks.
NPS has said that the guidance governing flag displays has been in place for decades, and that recent clarification is intended to ensure consistent application across sites. Still, critics see the Pride flag’s removal as part of a broader rollback of LGBTQ+ visibility at federal locations.
Schumer’s bill would need to pass both the Senate and the House and be signed into law to create the kind of durable authorization he is describing. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) has introduced similar legislation in the House.
The Stonewall National Monument was designated by President Barack Obama in 2016 as the first federal monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights. It commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, which followed a police raid on the Stonewall Inn and is widely credited with creating the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The Pride flag was permanently installed by the NPS in 2021, becoming the first Pride flag flown over federally funded land.
