Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer leads a press convention on the Stonewall Nationwide Monument on Feb. 15.
Donna Aceto
Standing simply steps from the Stonewall Nationwide Monument flagpole, Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer on Feb. 15 introduced plans to introduce laws that may make sure the Rainbow Flag completely flies on the historic website.
“The Trump administration’s removal of the Pride Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall National Monument is a deeply outrageous action that must be reversed,” Schumer, flanked by a number of out elected officers and LGBTQ neighborhood leaders, mentioned in the course of the Sunday afternoon press convention. “It’s an eff-ing disgrace. It’s just awful.”
The removing of the flag, in the meantime, represented simply the most recent instance of the White Home’s year-long sequence of assaults on the Stonewall Nationwide Monument, together with eradicating the T and Q from the net web site concerning the monument and erasing bisexual illustration.
“I am introducing legislation to designate the Pride Flag as a congressionally authorized flag in America, and that means it can be flown here and everywhere else,” Schumer mentioned. “No one — no one — can take it down.”
Senator Chuck Schumer waves a Rainbow Flag after asserting new laws on the Stonewall Nationwide Monument on Feb. 15Donna Aceto
Schumer additional blasted the Trump administration’s response to the flag-re-raising ceremony, which the Division of Inside mentioned was a “political stunt.”
“They don’t have the foggiest idea of what’s going on with people,” Schumer mentioned, referring to the Trump administration. “It’s just so, so bad. So New Yorkers are right to be outraged because this is not about a technical rule. It’s about dignity. It’s about visibility. It’s about respect.”
“That fear was real,” Schumer mentioned. “And that’s why, two years later, many of us worked together to pass the Respect for Marriage Act to tell the Supreme Court ‘hands off marriage,’ plain and simple.”
Emphasizing the necessity for his new laws, Schumer burdened that “rights that are not secured in law can be threatened.”
Schumer was joined on the press convention by Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Manhattan State Senator Erik Bottcher, and Manhattan Assemblymember Tony Simone, in addition to a number of different audio system, together with Allen Roskoff, Melissa Sklarz, and Ken Kidd.
Melissa Sklarz mentioned New York “will fight back” after the Trump administration eliminated a Rainbow Flag from the Stonewall Nationwide Monument.
“We will not tolerate this,” mentioned Sklarz, who represented the Stonewall Democratic Membership of New York Metropolis. “We will go to war. He has gone to war with immigrants, and women, and people of color, and the elderly and young. Now, just for the hell of it, he’s going to attack our queer symbols. New York will fight back; New York has always fought back. I am ready for this, as are all my friends.”
Hoylman-Sigal, in his remarks, recalled the preliminary effort in 2017 to designate Stonewall as a Nationwide Monument — and he pointed to the best way by which the political ambiance has deteriorated to such a level that the historic website could be below assault by the president.
“Who would have thought, back then, that the federal administration — the White House itself — would issue a directive removing the Pride Flag?” Hoylman-Sigal requested.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal delivers remarks on the Stonewall Nationwide Monument on Feb. 15.
He added: “Having this congressional authority behind us to protect the flag of our community could not be more important.”
Kidd, representing the Gilbert Baker Basis, mentioned the federal authorities “literally tried to steal our Pride” by eradicating the Rainbow Flag from the flagpole.
“That flag there harmed no one — not on person” he mentioned. “It helped so many of us. Its removal was an attack.”
Ken Kidd underscored the importance behind the historical past behind the Rainbow Flag.
“We hope so,” Schumer mentioned. “When we did the [Respect for Marriage Act], we did get bipartisan support. It’s a different world, with Trump and all of his horrible, hateful minions, but we’re going to fight to get bipartisan support.”
“Andy Humm always comes up with good ideas,” Schumer mentioned. “We’ll get working on that.”
Bottcher, like another audio system, famous that your entire battle to re-establish the flag on the Stonewall Nationwide Monument shouldn’t even be occurring as a result of it shouldn’t have been eliminated within the first place.
State Senator Erik Bottcher of Manhattan.Donna Aceto
“We have been elected to make people’s lives better,” he mentioned, “To address the housing crisis, the affordability crisis, the healthcare crisis, to lift people up with policies that make their lives better. We don’t want to have to be here fighting about our Pride Flag. They’ve decided to pick this fight. They’ve decided to target our community — to intimidate and bully our community.”
He added: “We’re not going to stand for it. We’re going to continue fighting until we prevail, and we will prevail because we always have.”
