Stonewall Monument Named Among Most Endangered Sites in the US
The Manhattan site’s inclusion on the annual preservation list comes amid Trump’s increasing efforts to control the narrative surrounding LGBTQ+ history.
The Stonewall National Monument was named one of the most endangered places in the United States in an annual list put out by the National Trust for Historic Preservation ahead of the 250th anniversary of the nation's independence. The Greenwich Village site's inclusion on the list comes amid President Trump’s increasing efforts to control the narrative surrounding LGBTQ+ history. A complete list of sites on the 2026 list is included at the end of this article.
Last February, the National Park Service (NPS) scrubbed all references to transgender individuals from the official website entry for the Christopher Park monument, which commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. Earlier this year, the agency quietly removed the rainbow pride flag from the site in accordance with a government mandate outlining that only the US flag could be flown there.
“The National Monument faces federal actions and policy changes that endanger the site’s historically accurate interpretation, community representation, and educational impact, including the participation of the full range of LGBTQ+ people in the Stonewall Uprising,” the National Trust wrote.
With support from city officials, local queer rights activists defied the mandate and restored the rainbow flag to the Stonewall National Monument within days of its removal this winter.
The Gilbert Baker Foundation, representing the late namesake artist who designed the flag in 1979, quickly filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. The complaint argued that the flag's removal contradicted the NPS's commitment to “protecting and preserving Christopher Park and the historical resources associated with it,” per the founding document outlining the purpose of the park's designation as a national monument in 2016.
The Trump administration eventually settled with the Foundation in mid-April, allowing the pride flag to be flown beneath the US flag in Christopher Park. However, the NPS has not reneged on its erasure of transgender and queer individuals from the official website entry.
The exclusion amplified the Trump administration's continued attacks on transgender rights and protections in the US. The Stonewall Inn and the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative were outraged by the NPS's move, and demanded that the agency immediately restore the original text.
“Sustained advocacy is necessary to ensure that the full and accurate LGBTQ+ history of the Stonewall Uprising remains publicly visible,” the National Trust said.
Also on the 2026 list of endangered places is the President's House in Philadelphia's Independence National Historical Park. Earlier this year, the site saw the NPS's removal and court-ordered reinstallation of an outdoor exhibit about the lives of enslaved African Americans who were forced to serve George Washington and John Adams. The Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape, where Republicans have attempted to repeal federal land protections, is named as well.
For the first time in the list's 38-year history, the National Trust will be issuing a one-time $25,000 grant to each of the 11 identified sites in recognition of the nation's 250th anniversary. The Trust was initially founded by congressional charter in 1949, but it has since terminated its relationship with the federal government and is currently funded by private-sector contributions.
The full list of endangered places selected by the National Trust is below:
- The Ben Moore Hotel | Montgomery, Alabama
- Tule Lake Segregation Center | Modoc County, California
- Angel Island Immigration Station | Tiburon, California
- Swansea Friends Meeting House | Somerset, Massachusetts
- Detroit Association of Women’s Clubs | Detroit, Michigan
- Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape | New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona & Utah
- Women’s Rights National Historical Park | Seneca Falls, New York
- Stonewall National Monument | New York, New York
- The President’s House Site | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Hanging Rock Revolutionary War Battlefield | Heath Springs, South Carolina
- El Corazón Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesús | Rudiosa, Texas
