More than 150 Pride flags vandalised outside Stonewall Inn
160 flags pitched outside the Stonewall National Monument have been vandalised. (x/@ebottcher)
More than 150 Pride flags have been vandalised at the Stonewall National Monument, the second successive year the historic site has been targeted.
At the end of last week, Steven Love Menendez, the caretaker of the display, found the Pride month instillation had been vandalised in Christopher Park, part of the Stonewall National Monument in New York City. The flags were put up during a ceremony on 1 June.
Menendez told Gay City News that the vandals destroyed three-quarters of the 250-flag display, with many left broken and tossed across the ground.
Menendez, who worked to reinstall the flags, informed the police and the National Park Service, and for the second year an NYPD investigation has been launched.
Gay New York City council member Erik Bottcher posted images of the flags on X/Twitter with the caption: “Anyone who thinks this will intimidate our community, is badly mistaken.”
Mayor Eric Adams also condemned the vandalism, writing on X that “hate has no place in our city, and nothing will change that”, adding: “We love the LGBTQ+ community and celebrate them during Pride and all year round. We’ll always have your back, and we will bring whoever defaced the Stonewall monument to justice.”
Last year, Pride flags hanging across the fence of the Stonewall National Monument were vandalised three times during Pride month, with a number of arrests being made.
Stonewall Inn and the Christopher Park gained landmark status in 2015 and were recognised as the Stonewall National Monument a year later by then-president Barack Obama.
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