Greetings Letters readers, Robby from Brooklyn reporting from a jubilant and defiant Sheridan Square Park where the Pride flag has just been raised once again. Over 1,000 people in the bitter February cold shouting “WHOSE FLAG?” “OUR FLAG!!!” as both the rainbow flag and the stars and stripes USA flag now once again flys proudly here in the West Village.

As first reported by Gay City News, “The Trump administration removed a large rainbow flag from a flagpole the National Parks confirmed to Gay City News on February 9th marking the latest example of the President’s broader effort to erase the queer community from the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.”

“Under government-wide guidance, including General Services Administration policy and Department of Interior direction, only the US flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags are flown on NPS-managed flagpoles, with limited exceptions,” a spokesperson for the National Park Service told Gay City News on the evening of February 9th. “Any changes to the flag displays are made to ensure consistency with that guidance. Stonewall National Monument continues to preserve and interpret the site’s historic significance through exhibits and programs.”

Longtime queer activist Ken Kidd spoke about the importance of the flag stating, “In 1978, Harvey Milk — one of the first openly LGBTQ elected officials — asked his friend, artist and activist Gilbert Baker to create a new symbol for our movement, replacing the pink triangle that once marked us for persecution and death. Gilbert chose a flag to embody our Pride because he understood that flags carry power.”

Kidd went on to mention the significance of the removal of this specific flag from the birthplace of the modern rights queer movement, “That is exactly why it was targeted — they tried to steal our Pride. We refuse to let Gilbert’s Rainbow be taken; it will not be folded up and put back into a closet any more than we will, because we’re here, we’re queer, and we’re not going anywhere.”

This is by no means the Trump administration’s first attack on our community. In fact, during the first 100 days of his second term the attacks on the queer community throughout the country have only intensified. Some of these attacks include more than $800 million in cuts to the National Institute of Health (NIH), including funding for grants meant to study the health of LGBTQ people. Last May the Supreme Court ruled that the President’s ban on transgender troops serving in the military can go into effect while the courts decide a final outcome. The Department of Defense removed queer icon Harvey Milk’s name from a US Naval vessel. And during June, the White House did not acknowledge Pride month. These examples are only a few of the wide and varied attacks our community has suffered at the hands of this second Trump administration.

Michael, a New York City resident for more than 40 years, who proudly attended the re-raising of the Pride flag, said that he felt the need to be here because “now more than ever we need to speak up. We need to prove the point we are equal to everyone else. No compromises. No backing down.” Former Miss Stonewall Fifi DuBois underscored this sentiment declaring, “I came because this is my community and the fact that this happened in 2026 is unacceptable.”

In 2017, the miniseries “When We Rise” premiered on ABC. Created and written by Dustin Lance Black, the Oscar-winning writer of “Milk,” the show chronicled the 40-year-long struggle for LGBTQ equality. This was the first series of it’s kind. (If this is the first time you are hearing about this you are not alone. The ratings for the miniseries were terrible – it bombed, no one watched it.)

The name alone inspires and empowers – WHEN WE RISE. When asked about the name, Black said in an interview, “We all know that we are minorities in one way or another it just depends on how you slice that pie. Every single person has an investment in that we need to make sure our neighbors are being treated equally.”

“RAISE IT UP,” “RAISE IT UP,” the crowd keeps chanting. Watching our Pride flag being raised with hundreds of my queer brothers and sisters cheering, clapping, and some crying was surprisingly moving for this middle-aged gay man. As that flag rose so too did the hopes, dreams, wants, and needs of an entire community. 

And as countless queer people have said throughout time for decades,  and as Ken Kidd said earlier, “We’re Here, We’re Queer,” and most importantly and most loudly, “WE AREN’T GOING ANYWHERE.”

(this column was first published in the March edition of “Letters from Camp Rehoboth”)