Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is making a push to have the Pride flag considered on the same level as the U.S. flag in the eyes of the federal government.
Schumer announced plans to introduce legislation that would make the flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ movement, a congressionally authorized flag. The distinction would enshrine the flag with similar protections as the U.S. flag, military flags, POW/MIA flags and others recognized by Congress.
His move comes after the Trump administration removed a Pride flag from a national monument outside the Stonewall Inn earlier this month. A clash between police and patrons at a gay bar in the 1960s is widely considered the birth of the gay rights movement.
‘Stonewall is sacred ground and Congress must act now to permanently protect the Pride flag and what it stands for,’ Schumer said. ‘Trump’s hateful crusade must end.’
The flag has since been reinstalled atop the pole outside the Stonewall Inn, and Schumer’s legislative push would prevent it from being taken down in the future.
President Donald Trump has not explicitly targeted the Pride flag but previously signed an executive order restricting what types of flags may be displayed on federal property to ensure only the U.S. flag is prominently flown.
The Pride flag was taken down from the monument following an internal memo from the Department of the Interior ordering ‘non-agency’ flags at national parks be removed.
The directive, signed by National Park Service Acting Director Jessica Bowron in late January, included certain exceptions to the rule, including historical flags, military flags and federally recognized flags from tribal nations.
The Stonewall National Monument, first designated by former President Barack Obama in 2016, falls under the agency’s supervision. The Pride flag atop a large flagpole outside the famous gay bar did not fall under the list of protected flags and pennants.
‘The very core of American identity is liberty and justice for all — and that is what this legislation would protect: each national park’s ability to make its own decision about what flag can be flown,’ Schumer said. ‘Attempts to hurt New York and the LGBTQ community simply won’t fly, but the Stonewall Pride flag always will.’