Even without a flag, Pride will fly at Stonewall
By Alfred P. Doblin
The Pride flag flying at the Stonewall National Monument, across from the Stonewall Inn, the place often cited as the birth of the gay-rights movement, was taken down this week. It was not removed by a wayward homophobe on a spree; the federal government directed that it come down because it did not comply with the Trump administration’s directive with regards to “non-agency” flags in national parks.
There are exemptions to this policy, and if the administration wanted to allow a Pride flag to fly within the confines of a tiny national park that commemorates that which the Pride flag honors, it could. It can. I doubt it will.
It’s important to recognize several things here. First, the Pride flag is a symbol, an important symbol, but it does not define who we, as members of the LGBTQ community, are.
We define us. We are broader than a flag. We cannot be raised and lowered at the whim of anyone. We are people, and, equally important in this situation, we are Americans — LGBTQ Americans with pride, and proud LGBTQ Americans.
The road to equality in this country has never been travelled by individuals who hate America. Disenfranchised communities have marched and protested over centuries not because they do not love America. It has always been the opposite. The disenfranchised want to become part of the franchise. They believe fervently that America stands for something greater than the transactional politics of the moment – of any moment.
As I see what is happening across the nation, I think of two showtunes – yes, showtunes. When I began writing this blog, I said there would be showtunes because that is who I proudly am.
In Hamilton, Aaron Burr is asked, “If you stand for nothing, what’ll you fall for?”
The policies of our government today beg for an answer to that question. If respect, dignity, and equality are viewed as antithetical to the American proposition, then exactly what were we founded on?
Which brings me to what may be the guiding principle from the administration, and I lean on the great lyricist Fred Ebb:
What if your hinges all are rusting?
What if, in fact, you're just disgusting?
Razzle dazzle 'em,
And they'll never catch wise!
Taking the Pride flag down was petty, ugly, and, if there is no large groundswell of outrage, dangerous. But it’s also a distraction. It makes a good many people look away from other things: Whether it is seeing what is in now-unredacted documents, or focusing less on the streets of Minneapolis, or fully grasping what the effects of dismantling accepted standards of human decency will have on the future of our society.
The temptation is to take the bait, poke the bear, and engage in a contest where the opponent has the power.
I get it. There will be rallies to raise the flag. We should be outraged. The Pride flag should be flying at the Stonewall National Monument.
But look around – all around. The park is surrounded by New York City. Fly Pride flags everywhere. Encircle that little park with Pride flags. If one flag cannot fly inside that space, dozens can on the surrounding streets. That was the message of Stonewall in 1969. It was not about controlling a dive bar; it was about coming out of the bar, moving into the rest of the city, and proclaiming that we are people, just like everyone else, with the same right to live our lives with dignity.
There is no winning a game of Three Card Monte. We’re New Yorkers; we’re smarter than that. The administration wants the LGBTQ community and its allies to play their game, their way. We should not. Nothing infuriates a flim-flammer more than not being able to get away with their con.
I am not an influencer or an activist. I do not have any desire to be political. I do have an innate need to be – to be fully who I am – and to not be silent when the seeds for a much greater infringement on my civil rights are being sown.
We are bigger than one Pride flag. We are all Pride flags.
If the administration wants razzle dazzle, let them see razzle dazzle for good.
Wouldn’t it be something if hundreds of people – LGBTQ and straight – came to the plaza between the Stonewall Inn and the Stonewall National Monument and each was given a piece of colored fabric, and all those diverse people holding their given piece of fabric were directed into a pre-set position and held up that piece of fabric, and by doing so, formed a human Pride flag big enough to be seen from Pennsylvania Avenue?
That would be something to see. That would be something too big to be ignored.
If we fall, we know what we will stand for. We stand for each other.
Take down our flag?
We will still stand, and so will Pride. We, the people, we the LGBTQ people, we the diverse and glorious people of what is still a nation founded on the greatest of propositions, that all people are created equal, are the Pride flag. We will fly!
Until next time, Alfred with a P