Trump administration agrees to return rainbow Pride flag to New York’s Stonewall monument

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration said Monday it will resume flying a rainbow Pride flag on a federal flagpole at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City, reversing course two months after removing the banner from the first national monument commemorating LGBTQ+ history.

The government revealed the decision in court papers as it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by advocacy and historic preservation groups who had sought to block the Feb. 9 removal. A judge approved the deal.

The Interior Department and National Park Service “have confirmed their intention to maintain a Pride flag at Stonewall,” lawyers for the government and the groups wrote in a joint court filing.

The flag — one of several Pride banners at the 7.7-acre (3.1-hectare) park — won’t be removed, except for “maintenance or other practical purposes,” the filing said.

Under the agreement, within a week, the park service will hang three flags on its flagpole at the monument. The Pride flag will be positioned below the U.S. flag, in accordance with U.S. flag code, and above the park service flag. Each will measure 3 feet by 5 feet (0.9 meters by 1.5 meters).

The site also features a large Pride flag on a city-controlled flagpole and smaller flags on a fence surrounding the monument, which is across the street from the Stonewall Inn, the gay bar where a 1969 police raid sparked an uprising and helped catalyze the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Those flags weren't removed.

“We fought the Trump administration and won,” said Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal wrote on X. The Democrat helped organize a protest Pride flag raising after the government-authorized banner was removed.

“We as an LGBTQ community celebrate the legal climb-down by the gutless Trump Administration on their contemptuous attempt to erase queer people from American history at Stonewall,” Hoylman-Sigal, the first openly gay person elected to his job, wrote.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat, called the Trump administration’s reversal “a victory for the LGBTQ+ community and for our entire city” and “a reminder that New Yorkers won’t let our history be rewritten.”

The Gilbert Baker Foundation, which honors the Pride flag creator who died in 2017, was among the organizations that sued over the removal.

“Stonewall is sacred ground in the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation, and this resolution helps ensure that the Rainbow Flag will continue to fly there, where it belongs,” foundation President Charley Beal said.

The Pride flag had become a flashpoint for arguments over Republican President Donald Trump ’s approach to Stonewall and various other historical properties.

After a yearslong campaign by activists who wanted the flag symbolizing LGBTQ+ pride to be flown daily inside the park service-run site, the banner was formally installed in 2022 during Democrat Joe Biden ’s tenure.

At the time, park service officials called it a sign of the government’s commitment to “telling the complex and diverse histories of all Americans.”

When it removed the flag in February, the park service said it was complying with federal guidance on flag displays. A Jan. 21 memo largely restricted the agency to displaying U.S., Interior Department and POW/MIA flags, with exemptions that include providing “historical context.”

The park service insisted the monument “remains committed to preserving and interpreting the history and significance of this site” through exhibits and programs. But LGBTQ+ activists saw the flag’s removal as a targeted affront meant to diminish a site that is all about their fight for rights and visibility.

Activists Michael Petrelis and Steven Love Menendez, who fought to have the park service fly the Pride flag, said they were pleased with Monday's agreement. But, they said, they were dismayed that other symbols, such as the even more inclusive Progress Pride flag, were left out.

“I look forward to the day when the flag display can restored to its original intent that allows all iterations of LGBTQ+ flags to fly,” Menendez said. “Until then at least we have the original rainbow flag flying to serve as a beacon of light.”

Democratic President Barack Obama created the Stonewall monument in 2016.

After Trump returned to office last year, he took aim at diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and many references to transgender people were excised from the Stonewall monument’s website and materials.

Trump’s administration similarly has put national parks, museums and landmarks under a messaging microscope, aiming to remove or alter materials that it says are “divisive or partisan” or “inappropriately disparage Americans.”

Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this report.

A rainbow Pride flag flies with an American flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Small rainbow Pride flags are displayed near a flagpole with a larger Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A rainbow Pride flag flies with an American flag at the Stonewall National Monument in New York, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - People demonstrate after New York politicians and activists raised a rainbow flag on a pole across the street from the Stonewall Inn, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in New York, a few days after it was removed by the National Park Service to comply with guidance from the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

FILE - New York politicians and activists raise a rainbow flag on a pole in Christopher Park across the street from the Stonewall Inn, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, in New York, a few days after it was removed by the National Park Service to comply with guidance from the Trump administration. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)

BAMENDA, Cameroon (AP) — Caro Bih says she was once kidnapped, chained and held for ransom by the separatist fighters who have clashed for years with government soldiers in parts of Cameroon. Several relatives have been killed, jailed or abducted. Her family home was razed.

Now she says her hopes for peace rest with Pope Leo XIV.

She is among millions in Cameroon anticipating his arrival on Wednesday as part of his four-nation Africa tour. It comes as the Central African nation is still reeling from a disputed presidential election that left dozens dead as the world’s oldest president, 93-year-old Paul Biya, extended his long rule.

The papal visit with its call for peace is expected to highlight the separatist conflict in Cameroon's two Anglophone regions. Thousands of people have been killed in what humanitarian groups call one of the world’s most neglected conflicts.

The separatists said Tuesday they will pause fighting for three days to allow safe travel for the pope, civilians and dignitaries.

Officials have framed Leo's visit as a moment of national unity for the country, which is ruled by Francophone authorities and divided along ethnic lines.

“We have been praying ceaselessly for the conflict to end, to no avail,” said Bih, a 52-year-old mother of six and a nurse by training. She spoke to The Associated Press from Bamenda, the epicenter of the violence. “We want the pope to intercede for us. I strongly believe his coming will help heal my wounds.”

Cameroon’s western regions have been plagued by fighting since English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion in 2017 with the stated goal of breaking away from the French-speaking majority and establishing an independent state.

The pope will preside over a peace meeting on Thursday in Bamenda with community leaders and celebrate Mass at the local airport.

Critics of the government worry the pope's visit will be seen as an endorsement of the Biya administration, which has been accused of committing abuses in the conflict and not being open to dialogue.

“I would caution the pope against allowing the regime to exploit his presence to mask the pain of profound historical injustices with empty appeals to peace and unity,” said Benjamin Akih, a U.S.-based Cameroonian activist and member of the Council for the Sovereignty of Cameroon, a civil society group.

Eric Chinje, who leads the Project Cameroon diaspora democracy group, said the pope might steer clear of trying to admonish those determined to stay in power at all costs, referring to Biya’s long rule.

“The visit has more to do with the pope’s global evangelical mission than with the fate and future of Cameroon,” Chinje said.

The Rev. John Berinyuy Tatah, a Catholic priest, was kidnapped by separatists in November alongside five fellow clergy and held two weeks in the bush, “cut off from the world.”

He said he believes the pope will sow a seed that could heal Cameroon if nurtured.

“The cry of every Cameroonian is for the pope to help us to mediate for dialogue in the ongoing crisis,” said Tatah, who plans to attend a pope-led Mass.

Cameroon also battles Boko Haram extremists who carry out attacks from across the border with Nigeria, often targeting military posts and villages.

More than 3.3 million people affected by conflict in Cameroon are struggling to find enough food, with families skipping meals, selling livestock or taking on debt to survive, according to the U.N.'s World Food Program.

“My hope is that the pope touches the soft spot of our collective wounds,” said Yeeika Desmond Nangsinyuy, a spoken-word artist who uses his art to speak out against violence.

Nangsinyuy said he was abducted by separatists in 2024 and told to stop his performances. But he never did.

“I want him to speak directly to the pain of families torn apart by conflict, and to inspire renewed hope that peace is possible,” he said of Leo.

The separatist fighting has upended communities.

Bih said only two of her children remain in school. One lives with a friend to reduce the burden of taking care of them all. Others work on the farm or at construction sites, or wash people’s clothes to help support the family.

Including money from the vegetables she cultivates and sells, the family's monthly income is the equivalent of about $53, barely enough to feed them.

Bih in 2024 abandoned physiotherapy and medicines for a stroke she suffered as she fled conflict multiple times. She relies on herbal remedies.

“I had dreamt of seeing my children become doctors, magistrates and so on,” she said quietly. “Now their future is uncertain.”

The children's father, 60-year-old Ngwa Manases, is separated from her and also affected by the fighting. He was forced to quit his job as a Catholic missionary teacher because of the insecurity.

Their 9-year-old daughter, Lydiane, had to drop out of school to help take care of the other children.

“I miss school,” the girl said. She had wanted to become an accountant.

Bih said she hopes the pope’s visit will change all their lives.

“We believe he will be a turning point,” she said.

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Caro Bih's family watches television in their living room in Bamenda, Cameroon, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Welba Yamo Pascal)

Caro Bih and her family pose for a photo in their living room in Bamenda, Cameroon, Monday, April 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Welba Yamo Pascal)

Rev. John Berinyuy Tatah, auxiliary Bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese, poses for a portrait in Bamenda, Cameroon, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Welba Yamo Pascal)