In the ongoing wake of President Trump‘s Jan. 20 executive order directing that the United States and its institutions only recognize two sexes (male and female), the National Park Service has been forced to remove all ‘transgender’ and ‘queer’ labels from the official website for the Stonewall National Monument.
The monument is meant to honor the 1969 New York City riots conducted by LGBTQ+ activists that helped galvanize the gay rights movement in the United States. The rioters included instrumental 20th-century lesbian, gay, bisexual and — yes — transgender activists. The NPS’ Stonewall webpage has nonetheless not only expunged all references to transgender and gender-nonconforming folks, but also cruelly shortened the “LGBTQ+” label to just “LGB” in order to only recognize lesbian, gay and bisexual people.
The Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village gay bar, was the site of a police raid the morning of June 28, 1969. The subsequent Stonewall Uprising became a landmark moment in raising strength, awareness and support for the gay rights movement. Among the Uprising’s participants were early trans activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
In a joint statement, the Stonewall Inn and nonprofit Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative condemned the change, writing, “This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history, but it also dishonors the immense contributions of transgender individuals — especially transgender women of color — who were at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots and the broader fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Let us be clear: Stonewall is transgender history.”
“Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and countless other trans and gender-nonconforming individuals fought bravely, and often at great personal risk to push against oppressive systems,” their statement continued. “Their courage, sacrifice and leadership were central to the resistance we now celebrate as the foundation of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.”
The NPS is not the only federal agency that has acquiesced to the Trump administration’s anti-trans directives over the past few weeks. The State Department and the CDC have also, notably, shortened any “LGBTQ+” acronyms on their related web pages to merely “LGB.”
In response to the NPS’ move, New York City Councilperson Erik Bottcher, whose district includes Greenwich Village and therefore the Stonewall Inn, wrote on Instagram, “Trump is trying to erase the very existence of transgender people. He’s trying to cleave our community apart and divide us. He’s not going to succeed. Lesbians and gays are not going to abandon our transgender siblings. We are one community.”
Stacy Lentz, co-owner of the Stonewall Inn and chief executive of Stonewall Inn Gives Back, also commented on the news on her personal Instagram page.
“We will not let them erase trans people from history and from existing! There is no Pride without Trans folks leading that fight! Trying to erase them from the Birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement will not happen!” Lentz wrote, urging supporters to participate in a Friday protest in New York City. “We need to show up and speak out for our trans and nonbinary siblings who are under attack!”
