POLITICS
Federal Govt. Plans Rainbow Flag at Christopher Park
Biden administration cleans up Trump’s mess from 2017
BY MATT TRACY
Four years after the Trump
administration abruptly
nixed plans to bring a
Rainbow Flag to federal
land adjacent to Christopher Park,
the Biden administration is planning
to install a permanent fl agpole
at the park — and the colors of
the rainbow will be on full display
day and night on US property.
The fresh development follows
the Trump administration’s decision
in 2017 to cancel the National
Park Service’s intentions
to dedicate a Rainbow Flag at the
Stonewall National Monument in
commemoration of National Coming
Out Day. While it was believed
that fl agpole — located just outside
of the park’s fence — stood on the
portion of the Stonewall National
Monument owned by the federal
government, the Trump administration
rejected that notion, saying
instead that it would not raise
such a fl ag because the pole was
not on federal land. That move that
was widely viewed as yet another
act of hostility by an administration
that relentlessly targeted LGBTQ
rights.
Longtime LGBTQ activist Michael
Petrelis, who spearheaded
the 2017 effort to bring the Rainbow
Flag to federal land at the
Stonewall National Monument,
went back to the drawing board
this year when he saw a potential
window of opportunity in a new
administration. He delivered a letter
to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland
— who has a non-binary child
— asking the federal government
to reclaim the land under the original
fl agpole and raise a permanent
Rainbow Flag on federal property
once and for all.
In response, the Department
of Interior’s National Park Service
continued to insist that the original
fl agpole is still not on federal
land — it is now considered cityowned
land — but nonetheless
committed to bringing a new, permanent
fl agpole to host the Rainbow
Flag within the confi nes of
Christopher Park on US property.
Christopher Park will soon have a permanent Rainbow Flag on federal land.
The existing fl agpole at the Stonewall National Monument, just outside of the fence at Christopher
Park.
The fl agpole will replace a separate,
temporary fl agpole that was
recently installed.
“This new fl agpole will be permanently
located front and center
in the beautiful gardens inside
Christopher Park,” Gay Vietzke,
the regional director for the National
Park Service, wrote in a
letter to Petrelis. The National
DONNA ACETO
DONNA F. ACETO
Park Foundation will be donating
funds toward the fl agpole’s
installation.
Shirley McKinney, the Manhattan
Sites superintendent for the
National Park Service, told Gay
City News there is not yet a timetable
for the fl agpole’s installation
because it fi rst must go through
obligatory procedural hurdles. She
said it is possible that the existing
fl ag waving at the temporary fl agpole,
which has a Stonewall National
Monument insignia, could
be shifted to the new pole — or a
new fl ag might be ordered.
“It’s a little bit early,” McKinney
said. “We have a contractor selected,
but we are just starting the process.
We are proud to be able to fl y
the Pride Flag on federal property
inside Christopher Park, where it
matters to the community.”
Petrelis said he is satisfi ed with
the government’s commitment —
even if the fl ag won’t be exactly
where he asked it to be.
“I’m ecstatic that the rainbow
fl ag will fl y 24/7 on federal property
that is part of the Stonewall
National Monument,” he said. “I
was happy that the Rainbow Flag
was fl ying on the Greenwich Village
fl agpole… but it was not federal
property, and that was my ultimate
goal.”
LGBTQ activist Steven Love Menendez,
who has placed Rainbow
Flags along the park’s wrought
iron fence during Pride Month,
said he found out about the plans
for the permanent fl agpole in June.
He led efforts to bring a temporary
fl agpole to the park and has been
re-applying for monthly permits to
keep it up. He was informed that
the permanent fl agpole would be
placed where the temporary pole is
located.
“I think it’s perfect because it’s
exactly where I put it up,” Menendez
told Gay City News. “I was fl attered.”
Petrelis would like to see the
new fl agpole installed on National
Coming Out Day, October 11,
though the federal government’s
comments seem to suggest the installation
could take time. Petrelis
hopes the government will allow
the community to periodically rotate
the fl ag to include other fl ags
within the community, including
the Progress Pride Flag, the Transgender
Flag, and the Bear Pride
Flag.
“I want community control of an
evolving display of fl ags from that
fl agpole,” Petrelis said.
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