LGBTQ Pride flag display at State Capitol Museum removed over alleged regulations violation

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- Arizona's Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said an LGBTQ pride flag and a transgender pride flag was removed from display at the Arizona Capitol Museum Friday.

According to tweets made on her verified Twitter account Friday, the flags were displayed at the front of the former State Capitol building in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riot. Hobbs said to her knowledge, this is the first time such a flag display has happened at the Arizona State Capitol area.

"When I displayed the flags my goal was to highlight that Arizona is a state where all are welcome and respected. We still have work to do," said Hobbs, in a tweet.

In a later tweet made by Hobbs, she said the LGBTQ pride flag was later hung up in her office.

The Stonewall Riot, according to the National Park Service, happened during the early hours of June 28 as a result of a police raid on the Stonewall Inn in New York City. The event is considered to be a milestone for the LGBTQ civil rights movement.

According to officials with Phoenix Pride, the riots continued until June 30, and ever since then, Pride parades are organized around the time of the Stonewall Riot to commemorate the birth of the LGBTQ rights movement. In Phoenix, the Pride Parade is organized in April due to heat concerns.

FOX 10 has obtained e-mails written by Mike Braun, Executive Director of the Arizona Legislative Council, who wrote that the display was "nonconforming" because no application was received or approved for the activity, and that regulations, in part, prohibit the affixing of banners to the buildings, and that no exceptions have been pursued for the activity.