Transgender reference removed from National Park Service’s Stonewall website

The National Park Service is the latest agency to remove references to the transgender community in line with President Trump’s executive order mandating that the country only recognize two genders. 

The agency’s web page dedicated to the Stonewall National Monument in New York deleted “transgender” and “queer” from the LGBTQ+ acronym previously displayed on the site. Instead it now reads “LGB” for lesbian, gay and bisexual, a move first reported Thursday by The New York Times. 

“Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal,” reads a small excerpt at the top of the website. “The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement.”

The removal comes as the Trump administration has sought to fulfill the president’s campaign promise to roll back trans rights, issuing additional executive orders banning transgender people from women’s sports and minors from receiving gender-affirming care.

The Stonewall Inn, which was raided by police in 1969 and sparked unrest that ignited the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, said it was “outraged and appalled” by the removal of the word from the website and called for it to be restored.

“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,” the bar wrote.

However, the National Parks Conservation Association did share a statement declaring the change does not erase history.

“The National Park Service exists to not only protect and preserve our most cherished places but to educate its millions of annual national park visitors about the inclusive, full history of America,” Timothy Leonard, Northeast Program Manager for the National Parks Conservation Association, shared in a statement.

“Erasing letters or webpages does not change the history or the contributions of our transgender community members at Stonewall or anywhere else. History was made here and civil rights were earned because of Stonewall. And we’re committed to ensuring more people know that story and how it continues to influence America today.”

The Stonewall Inn said it views the move as an “attack.”

“This decision to erase the word ‘transgender’ is a deliberate attempt to erase our history and marginalize the very people who paved the way for many victories we have achieved as a community,” the bar added. “It is a direct attack on transgender people, especially transgender women of color, who continue to face violence, discrimination, and erasure at every turn.”

Former President Obama formally recognized the Stonewall site as a national monument on June 24, 2016, making it the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights.

Updated at 9:05 p.m. EST.