The Trump administration has gone to work to ensure that a rainbow flag dedication at the Stonewall National Monument scheduled for today would not be such a proud moment after all.
For the first time, a pride flag was set to fly on federal land, at the site of one of the key battles against discrimination and for LGBTQ equality.
The National Park Service had approved and sponsored the event, before abruptly pulling out.
It also, under the direction of Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Department of the Interior, worked to certify that the flagpole adjacent to Christopher Park was not technically on U.S. government land, Gay City News reports.
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“This is an unbelievably petty, sleazy, transparent bit of cruelty by the Trump administration,” said Ann Northrop, the co-host of “Gay USA,” who will preside over the ceremony today. “Evidently, we are so filthy to them and their right-wing supporters that they can’t even be associated with a few yards of rainbow fabric.”
“This is emblematic of what’s happening in the country right now to LGBTQ Americans citizens,” said Ken Kidd, one of the event’s organizers.
The Trump administration has stood against the LGBTQ community in a number of key ways since assuming power, including pulling transgender student protections, asserting that civil rights laws do not apply to gay or transgender people, and giving people the right to discriminate as long as they cite their religious beliefs as the motivation.
“We’re being told at every turn — including Trump’s first decision to appoint Pence — that actions will be taken to make us second-class citizens again. The very idea that taxpayer dollars were spent researching a flagpole on a national monument when there are so many other things at stake in the country is an outrage,” Kidd said. “Some employee of the Park Service or Interior read that Newsweek preview article on this because Donald Trump’s name was mentioned by me. They are so thin-skinned and so bigoted that they were going to spite us and not let that Rainbow Flag fly on federal property.”
The Park Service website no longer shows the page that had the map for the Stonewall National Monument.
There is also concern that the Trump administration could pull the national monument designation from Stonewall, as it is currently reviewing designations made by the Obama administration.
