PRESS RELEASE: STONEWALL IS HISTORY, NOT POLITICS
New York, New York – February 11, 2026
The Gay Officers Action League (GOAL), representing LGBTQIA+ law enforcement professionals since 1982, opposes the removal of the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument.
Stonewall is not a generic federal property. It is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQIA+ civil rights movement in the United States. Its designation as a National Monument recognizes that the events that occurred there reshaped American law, public policy, and the relationship between institutions and the LGBTQIA+ community.
At this specific site, the Pride flag is not a political expression. It is historically and culturally inseparable from the movement that emerged from Stonewall and from the community whose struggle the monument exists to commemorate.
We believe removing the Pride flag from this monument diminishes the historical completeness of the site and sends an unnecessary and discouraging message to LGBTQIA+ Americans, including those, like us, who serve in public safety.
As LGBTQIA+ members of law enforcement, we understand that Stonewall represents a turning point in institutional accountability and growth. The decades since have reflected meaningful progress. That evolution deserves visible acknowledgment.
Accordingly, GOAL will seek clarification from appropriate federal authorities regarding the policy basis for this decision and will request that historically contextual symbols integral to Stonewall's designation be reconsidered for display.
Public institutions are strongest when they preserve history accurately and in full. We stand firmly for that principle.
