In the summer of 1969, protesters clashed with police at the Stonewall Inn, a now-iconic New York City gay bar, setting in motion a civil rights uprising that would define modern LGBTQ+ activism. Nearly 60 years later, the Trump administration spearheaded the removal of a pride flag from Stonewall, stating “only the U.S. flag and other congressionally or departmentally authorized flags” can be displayed at national monuments.

While New York politicians would raise another pride flag days later, Janson Wu, senior vice president of philanthropy at The Trevor Project, sees this erasure as part of a “larger campaign to erase LGBTQ history.”

“I think this most recent incident is one of many in the history of the LGBTQ community starting even before Stonewall,” said Wu. “We’ve been through these fights before, we will be through them again, and we are resilient. And we’re not going to let anyone take down our flag.”

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One of these fights comes in the ever-present marriage equality debate. A Republican-led campaign is seeking to overturn the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage, even though a recent Gallup poll found that 68% of Americans support equal marital rights.

However, as Polly Crozier, director of family advocacy at GLAD Law, highlighted, this campaign is likely too “extreme” for mainstream Americans, who have largely shown intergenerational support toward matters of marriage equality. Even with a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court, Crozier points to positive developments for LGBTQ couples, such as Virginia’s ballot proposal to overturn a constitutional marriage ban.

“I think Virginia wants to very clearly remove their old ban on same-sex marriage from their constitution and put [in] a very positive statement that supports equal marriage,” Crozier said. “I’m hoping that other states do this kind of work, because I think that the right to marry is so important and so powerful.”

Further glimmers of hope can be found in the 2026 Winter Olympics, where a record-breaking 49 openly LGBTQ+ athletes are competing. Swedish skier Elis Lundholm became the first transgender athlete in Winter Olympics history, and Olympian Amber Glenn — the first openly queer woman to compete as a U.S. figure skater — won a gold medal just days after calling out President Trump’s social policies in a now-viral press conference.

“I think all of these stories are exciting and affirming in that, of course, LGBTQ athletes have always participated in the Olympics and all sporting events since their inception,” said Grace Sterling Stowell, executive director of BAGLY, the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth. “But what’s changed is that, increasingly, LGBT folks are feeling willing, able, safer, [and] still courageously choosing to be out and who they are.”

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“I think the Olympics are such a unique moment, and we need those moments more than ever now of people coming together,” Crozier said.

These stories and more, on Under the Radar’s LGBTQ+ news roundtable!

Guests

  • Janson Wu, senior vice president of philanthropy at The Trevor Project
  • Grace Sterling Stowell, executive director of BAGLY, the Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth
  • Polly Crozier, Director of Family Advocacy at GLAD Law, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders

Stories discussed in this week’s roundtable