Gilbert Baker Foundation Celebrates a Historic Victory for the Rainbow Flag at Stonewall National Monument

Today the Gilbert Baker Foundation is celebrating the resolution of our lawsuit challenging the removal of the Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall National Monument by the National Parks Service, marking a significant victory for LGBTQ+ visibility, history, and civil rights. This resolution ensures the flag will continue to fly at the monument, under current law and policy, affirming its rightful place at the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

It must be reaffirmed that the foundation fights for all of our community flags, whether it’s Gilbert Baker’s original Rainbow Flag, the Progress Flag, the Trans Flag, or the More Colors Flag.  Read our full statement below.

Created by Gilbert Baker in 1978, the Rainbow Flag is more than a symbol—it is a global emblem of hope, visibility, and the ongoing struggle for equality. Its presence at Stonewall, the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, is both historically and culturally indispensable. Restoring the flag affirms the truth of our history and the legitimacy of our continued fight for dignity and inclusion.

We are deeply grateful to our legal partners at Lambda Legal and Washington Litigation Group for their exceptional advocacy, and to our co-plaintiffs Equality New York and Village Preservation for their partnership and leadership in this effort. This outcome reflects the strength of coalition and the power of standing together in defense of our community.

While we celebrate this victory, our work is not finished. The Gilbert Baker Foundation remains committed to ensuring that all members of the LGBTQ+ community are fully represented in our shared public spaces. That includes continued efforts—through advocacy, public engagement, and, when necessary, legal action—to ensure that the full spectrum of our community’s flags, including the Transgender Flag and others, are permitted to fly at Stonewall and across the country.

Fighting for our community’s flags to fly freely is our mandate. When flag bans began across America in 2022, the Gilbert Baker Foundation launched our Save The Rainbow Flag initiative. Working with community activists, we have succeeded in overturning or preventing a dozen bans. And we are helping activists around the globe as well, including in Ukraine, Kenya, and Japan. But our work is far from over; there are currently more than 60 pride flag bans in the United States alone.

It must be reaffirmed that the foundation fights for all of our community flags, whether it’s Gilbert Baker’s original Rainbow Flag, the Progress Flag, the Trans Flag, or the More Colors Flag. In fact, we currently support another federal lawsuit in Hamtramck, Michigan, where officials approved a citywide ban of the Progress Flag. When any of these community flags are threatened, we all are in danger. The Gilbert Baker Foundation is pledged to continue battling the bigots who are trying to erase us.

The Rainbow Flag’s return is a powerful step forward—but the broader fight for visibility, respect and our basic civil rights continues.

Charley Beal

President , Gilbert Baker Foundation