No LGB without the T — queer community protests Trump's transgender erasure at Stonewall

Historic New York City gay bar the Stonewall Inn held a rally on Friday to protest the Trump administration's erasure of transgender people from its landmark's website.

The National Park Service removed the "T" from the "LGBTQ+" acronym as well as any references to transgender people from the official Stonewall National Monument website on Thursday. The erasure follows Trump's executive orders denying the existence of trans people and removing them from other government websites along with LGBTQ+ resources.

A person holds a brick during a protest outside the Stonewall Inn in New York, the scene of riots against police raids on the gay bar in 1969, on February 14, after the word "transgender" was erased from the National Park Service's webpage about the riots.KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images

Prior to its revision, as recently as Wednesday, the NPS website introduction read, "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal." Now it states, "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."

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The Stonewall Inn and the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, whose employees organized the protest, said in a statement that they are "outraged and appalled" by the censorship, calling it a "blatant act of erasure" that "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."

People protest the removal of the word “transgender” from the Stonewall National Monument website during a rally outside of the Stonewall Inn on February 14 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

"Let us be clear: Stonewall is transgender history. 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," the groups said. "Their courage, sacrifice, and leadership were central to the resistance we now celebrate as the foundation of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement."

"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. It is a direct attack on transgender people, especially transgender women of color, who continue to face violence, discrimination, and erasure at every turn," they continued. "We demand the immediate restoration of the word ‘transgender’ on the Stonewall National Monument website. We will not stand by while the legacies of our transgender siblings are erased from the history books."

People protest the removal of the word “transgender” from the Stonewall National Monument website during a rally outside of The Stonewall Inn on February 14 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The 1969 Stonewall Riots — protests in response to police raids of gay bars — are widely credited as sparking the modern-day LGBTQ+ rights movement. “At the forefront of the riots and the early movement were transgender and gender non-conforming women of color, like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy,” as noted by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in a 2019 article for the 50^th anniversary.

"The record is clear: from the start of the modern-day LGBTQ+ rights movement in the 1960s up to today, transgender people have been the heart of the fight for equality," Ben Garcia, executive director of the NYC-based American LGBTQ+ Museum, said in response to Trump's censorship. "As a museum of American history we will not stand for this attempted erasure of transgender people from the Stonewall National Monument site — LGB does not exist without T and Q."

Members of the LBGTQ+ community and allies protest the removal of the word "transgender" from the Stonewall National Monument website during a rally outside of historic The Stonewall Inn on February 14 in New York City. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

The Stonewall landmark in Greenwich Village was designated a national monument by President Barack Obama in June 2016. It was the first NPS site to acknowledge the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in the U.S.

“This move to try to erase transgender people from the Stonewall National Monument is cruel, pathetic, and historically inaccurate," U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat and the Senate minority leader, said in a statement. "Transgender New Yorkers played a critical role in the events at Stonewall and in the movement for equality that it inspired. The Park Service should reverse themselves immediately.”

People protest the removal of the word “transgender” from the Stonewall National Monument website during a rally outside of the Stonewall Inn on February 14 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

"The decision to change 'LGBTQ+' to 'LGB' on the Stonewall National Monument page is yet another example of the Trump administration’s blatant attempts to discriminate against and erase the legacies of transgender and queer Americans," a spokesperson for GLAAD said. "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."

"The tireless work of Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and countless other trans women of color paved the way and continue to inspire us," they continued. "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.”

The Stonewall National Monument sign is seen as people protest outside the Stonewall Inn in New York, the scene of riots against police raids on the gay bar in 1969, on February 14, after the word "transgender" was erased from the National Park Service's web page about the riots. KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images