NEW YORK (WPIX) – The National Park Service has removed a reference to the transgender community from the Stonewall National Monument’s website.
The change, which has sparked an outcry among the LGBTQ+ community, came after President Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to recognize only two genders.
“I was personally offended, deeply offended, that the National Park Service would go so far as to align themselves with Donald Trump’s anti-trans rhetoric,” Angelica Christina, board member of The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, said in response to the change. “The Stonewall Inn is a beacon of hope for the LGBTQIA+ community, going back to the Stonewall riots.”
As of Wednesday, the National Park Service’s webpage for the Stonewall National Monument still included references to transgender and queer people, as seen in an archived version of the page:
“Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal, but the events at the Stonewall Inn sparked fresh momentum for the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement,” the website previously stated, as seen in the archived page.
By Thursday, however, the words “transgender” and “queer” were removed, and the letters “T” and “Q” were cut from various references to the acronym LGBTQ. Those phrases were replaced with phrases like the “LGB rights movement” or “LGB civil rights.”
“Right now, we need to let our voices be heard,” Stacy Lentz, an LGBTQ+ advocate and co-owner of the Stonewall Inn, said in response to the changes. “We need to call on all Democrats to stand up and protect the trans community. The one thing we can’t do right now is just roll over and let trans people be erased from public life, and so as a community, I know that we’re all going to come together and fight like crazy.”
A police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in Greenwich Village, sparked the Stonewall Riots in 1969. The rough treatment by police against its patrons led to six days of protests and clashes with law enforcement. The events were pivotal in the gay rights movement in the United States. Both gay and transgender patrons fought back against police during the riots.
Former President Barack 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.
The National Parks Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Nexstar’s WPIX.
This story comprises reporting from The Associated Press.
Source: Fox 8 News Channel