As it becomes increasingly clear to Americans that the Trump administration has every intention of erasing trans people, references to transgender and non-binary people have literally been erased from the Stonewall National Monument’s official National Park Service page.
The site, which commemorates the Stonewall Inn riots led by trans women in 1969, after police violently raided a gay bar in Greenwich Village, only briefly mentions Marsha P. Johnson.
A spokesperson from The Stonewall Inn said they were “outraged and appalled” about the info scrubbing. “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,” they continued.
Pink News reports, the description of the monument on the opening page replaced “LGBTQ+” with “LGB” and now only includes mentions of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the summary of the riots.
Despite the removal of many references, a few still remain in the “Virtual Fence Exhibit” section of the site which features photos of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera with captions that read “Marsha was a founding member of Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with Sylvia Rivera,” and “Sylvia Rivera laying back and posing on the edge of a water fountain. At a young age Sylvia began fighting for gay rights while also helping homeless young drag queens, like herself, gay youth, and trans people.”
This use of the phrase “trans people” is now the only reference to the trans community on the entire Stonewall site, according to Pink News.
A spokesperson from GLAAD spoke out against the act saying “The Stonewall Uprising – a monumental moment in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights – would not have happened without the leadership of transgender and gender non-conforming people.”
More than 350 pages referencing LGBTQ+ people have been deleted from federal government websites since Trump assumed office in January. These have included HIV resources, LGBTQ+ statistics pages, and inclusive policy pages, according to Pink News.
“Let us be clear: Stonewall is transgender history,” said spokespersons from the Stonewall Inn. “Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and countless other trans and gender-nonconforming individuals fought bravely, and often at great personal risk, to push back against oppressive systems. Their courage, sacrifice, and leadership were central to the resistance we now celebrate as the foundation of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.” The inn also demanded that the original content of the site be restored ASAP.
