Nearly all mentions of trans and queer people have been scrubbed clean off a website for the Stonewall National Monument.
The memorial in New York honours the 1969 riot that ignited the US LGBTQ+ rights movement.
But the National Park Service removed most references to trans and queer people this week from the Greenwich Village monument’s webpage.
Striking the words ‘transgender’ and ‘queer’ comes after US President Donald Trump forced federal agencies to recognise only two genders, male and female.
Archives show that on Tuesday, the introductory text on the main Stonewall monument page said: ‘Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal.’
But by Thursday, the line was changed to ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGB)’, removing the ‘T’.
As of today, it reads ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person’ – the word ‘queer’ and ‘Q+’ had also been cut.
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‘The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969, is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement,’ it continues.
The mention of trans or queer people has been removed from other pages, such as one on the ‘history and culture’ of Stonewall. One of the few remaining uses of ‘LGBT’ is a link to an external site or on years-old news releases.
Another webpage that listed flags representing different members of the LGBTQ+ community, such as the trans Pride flag, has been deleted.
However, in the ‘Virtual Fence Exhibit’ section of the site, there is a photograph of trans activist Marsha P Johnson with the caption.’
Stonewall Inn said in a statement that gouging out the words ‘transgender’ and ‘queer’ from the monument’s website is a ‘blatant act of erasure’.
It ‘not only distorts the truth of our history but is also dishonours the immense contributions of transgender individuals, especially transgender women of colour, who were at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots and the broader fight for LGBTQ+ rights’.
The statement added: ‘Let us be clear: Stonewall is transgender history. Marsha P Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and countless other trans and gender-nonconforming individuals fought bravely against an oppressive system.
‘Their courage, sacrifice and leadership were central to the resistance we now celebrate as the foundation of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.’
Stonewall Inn has organised a protest against the change, with LGBTQ+ activists set to gather at Christopher Park 12pm local time, calling for ‘transgender’ to be reinstated on the website.
And the institution was not alone in calling for this. GLAAD, among the largest LGBTQ+ rights groups in the US, said: ‘You can try to erase our history, but we will never forget those who came before us and we will continue to fight for all those who will come after us.’
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on X that the agency’s change to the website was ‘cruel and petty’.
The National Parks Conservation Association, a membership group, said the ‘unsettling change’ to the agency website ‘does not change history’.
‘Stonewall inspires and our parks must continue to include diverse stories that welcome and represent the people that shaped our nation,’ it said.
The Stonewall uprising began in the hours after midnight on June 28, 1969, when police officers raided the tavern.
Officers grilled trans pundits and drag performers, even demanding some undergo anatomical inspections. LGBTQ+ bar-goers spontaneously fought back, sparking days of protests.
The changes to the monument website followed a push by US President Donald Trump to end initiatives that ‘promote or reflect gender ideology’.
Agency officials were ordered to ‘restore biological truth to the federal government’ by, among other things, removing all public-facing media that promotes trans rights.
On top of being a national monument, Stonewall Inn is a New York State historic site.
By the bar’s entrance is a small plaque. ‘The event that began at the Stonewall Inn in 1969 marked a monumental change for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) Americans, it reads.
The National Park Service has been approached for comment.
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