Niagara Falls, N.Y. – The American side of Niagara Falls has long dazzled visitors with its nightly light shows, sometimes bathed in the colors of the flag and other times glowing in rainbow hues to mark Pride Month or global solidarity. But a conservative lawmaker’s new proposal to restrict the illumination to only red, white, and blue has turned a beloved tourist attraction into the latest front in the culture wars.
Representative Gordon Hale, a first-term House Republican from upstate New York, announced plans this week to introduce a bill requiring the Falls to display only the colors of the American flag. He argued that other displays “push a woke agenda” and “undermine the sanctity of a national treasure.” In his words, “Niagara Falls belongs to all Americans. When it’s lit up in rainbow colors, it’s no longer a celebration of nature, it’s an endorsement of alternative lifestyles. Tourists shouldn’t be subjected to ideological messaging when they’re here to enjoy God’s creation.”
The problem, critics quickly noted, is that Hale’s proposal appears to target something beyond his jurisdiction. The U.S. side of Niagara Falls is not a national park at all but part of Niagara Falls State Park, owned and operated by the State of New York. That means decisions about illumination, maintenance, and events are made by state and local authorities, not Congress or federal agencies. The Niagara Falls Illumination Board, a joint Canadian and American body, manages the lighting in partnership with New York’s Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. As a result, Hale’s proposed federal law would likely have no authority over the site whatsoever.
Marissa Keane, a spokesperson for the Niagara Tourism Bureau, put it bluntly. “He’s trying to pass a law over something he doesn’t control,” she said. “It’s a state park, not a federal monument, and it’s a light show, not a moral referendum.”
Around the Falls, the public reaction blended exasperation with disbelief. Harold Peterson, who has sold ponchos and postcards there for thirty years, shook his head at the controversy. “It’s just lights,” he said. “People come here for the water, not to fight over colors. What’s next, banning fireworks because they’re too festive?”
Others saw political theater more than patriotism. State Senator Lydia Flores, a Democrat from Buffalo, said the proposal was “grandstanding at its most transparent,” arguing that Hale should focus on park infrastructure and environmental protection instead of “symbolic gestures for television cameras.”
The debate has come to symbolize something larger than a disagreement over colored lights. Across the country, similar efforts have emerged from conservative lawmakers seeking to regulate how public institutions use symbols of identity or inclusivity. What once might have been dismissed as a fringe complaint has now entered the mainstream political stage.
Hale, for his part, insists he is not attacking anyone. “This isn’t anti-anyone,” he told a local radio host. “It’s pro-America. The red, white, and blue are sacred, and I’m going to defend them.”
As night fell over the gorge and mist drifted upward, the Falls continued to shimmer in shifting color. From the viewing deck, one Canadian tourist looked out over the cascading water as the lights changed from violet to gold to green and finally to a full rainbow. “If color offends you here,” she said softly, “maybe you’ve missed the point of the rainbow.”
Truth Bureau 