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Earlier this year, the Trump administration took down a rainbow pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York, part of what many saw as a broader assault on the LGBTQ+ community. On Monday, the federal government agreed to a court settlement that allows the flag to fly. Reporter Steve Kastenbaum has more in New York.
STEVE KASTENBAUM: Here at the Stonewall National Monument, tulips are in full bloom surrounding the flagpole where the Gay Pride flag has been flying for weeks beneath an American flag. Back in February, a group of community members and gay rights activists jumped over the fence to put the flag back up. And it's been flying ever since. Now, as a result of that settlement, it'll stay there in perpetuity.
ROSE BARTER: It should've never come down.
KASTENBAUM: Rose Barter (ph) came to the Stonewall National Monument from Homer Glen, Illinois.
BARTER: This is that ray of sunshine, that ray of hope that, like, maybe we can turn that corner again and get back to a place where we're respecting all people in America.
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KASTENBAUM: The monument commemorates the birth of the gay rights movement, the uprising in 1969 when people fought back against a police raid at the Stonewall Inn bar. When the pride flag disappeared earlier this year, the Park Service cited a directive that said only the U.S. flag and their agency flag could be flown at their properties. Steve Timmins (ph) of Long Beach, California, didn't buy that explanation.
STEVE TIMMINS: They were trying to rewrite history and erase us from history. And so, to see that it's flying again I think is - it's acknowledging my existence.
KASTENBAUM: Matthew McMorrow was enjoying a celebratory drink in front of the Stonewall Inn. He works in public affairs. And he advised one of the plaintiffs that sued the federal government over the Pride flag's removal.
MATTHEW MCMORROW: We fought back, and we won. And I think that's an important message to everyone who's under attack by this administration.
KASTENBAUM: The Park Service denied that the flag ban was intentionally targeting any group. The settlement calls for the Pride flag to be flown permanently, along with the stars and stripes and the National Park Service flag.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Kastenbaum in New York.
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