THE US NATIONAL Park Service has erased mentions of transgender people from a website about the Stonewall National Monument, which is dedicated to a history-making LGBTQ+ movement in the 1960s that the trans community was at the heart of. 

The measure was taken in response to orders from US President Donald Trump issued during his first days back in the White House that amount to attacks on transgender people.

In falling in line with the directives, the country’s National Park Service has removed all references to transgender and queer people on its website about the Stonewall National Monument, which marks a site in New York City where the fight for civil rights for LGBTQ+ people gained momentum.

One of Trump’s first executive orders upon returning to the White House was to impose strict definitions of what his administration says it means to be a man or woman and order all federal agencies and employees to use those definitions.

He ordered agencies to “remove all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology”.

The Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, Manhattan was a gay bar that was raided by police in 1969, sparking days of protest that became a pivotal point in the movement for LGBTQ+ rights in the US at a time when the community faced significant legal and social discrimination.

Among the key figures were Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two transgender women. Their names are almost synonymous with the Stonewall riots.

However, the involvement of transgender activists – and even the existence of transgender people – is no longer recognised on the official website for the Stonewall monument.

Until yesterday, the website’s introduction said: “Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGBTQ+ civil rights and provided momentum for a movement.”

It has now been revised to say: “Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal. The Stonewall Uprising on June 28, 1969 is a milestone in the quest for LGB civil rights and provided momentum for a movement.”

A link on the website that used to lead to a video series about the history of the Stonewall uprising, the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement and the Stonewall National Monument now leads to an error message.

People outside the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Centre during New York's Pride Parade in 2024 Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Transgender people are one of the communities that Donald Trump has sought to vilify to create a ‘common enemy’ to draw his supporters closer to him.

In a joint statement, the modern-day Stonewall Inn bar and non-profit organisation The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative said that they are “outraged and appalled”.

Related Reads

'There's a new sheriff in town': JD Vance fires verbal broadside at Europe in fiery Munich speech

Accenture, employer of thousands in Ireland, abandons diversity measures after Trump orders

“This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history but it 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 the LGBTQ+ rights,” they said.

“Let us be clear: Stonewall is transgender history. Marsha P. Johnson and 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.”

They described the erasure as a “deliberate attempt to erase our history and marginalise the very people who paved the way for many victories we have achieved as a community”.

“It is a direct attack on transgender people, especially transgender women of colour, who continue to face violence, discrimination and erasure at every turn.”

They are calling for the word transgender to be restored on the Stonewall National Monument website and said they stand “unwaveringly in solidarity with the transgender community and all who fight for full equality”.

“We will not stand by while the legacies of our transgender siblings are erased from the history books… we will not rest until this grave injustice is corrected.”