ASBURY PARK, NJ — Last night, news broke that the National Park Service has scrubbed any references to transgender people and history from the website of the Stonewall National Monument. In line with other changes on federal websites with references to LGBTQ+ people, the NPS has also removed any references to queer people and history.
In response, Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy, education, and wellness organization, and the Marsha P. Johnson Family Foundation condemn this discriminatory and dangerous action. In fighting to preserve the legacy of New Jerseyan Marsha P. Johnson, the two organizations released the following statements.
James Carey (he/him), President of the Marsha P. Johnson Family Foundation, and Marsha’s cousin:
“This is not just an erasure of words—it is an erasure of history. The Stonewall Uprising was led by trans and queer people of color, including my cousin, Marsha P. Johnson, alongside Sylvia Rivera and countless others whose courage sparked the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Stripping trans and queer identities from the narrative of Stonewall is a deliberate and dangerous attempt to rewrite history.
“Marsha fought for a world where no one had to live in fear because of who they are. Her legacy, and the legacy of the trans community, is inseparable from Stonewall. We call on the National Park Service and the Trump administration to immediately restore accurate, inclusive language to the Stonewall National Monument webpage.
Our history will not be erased. Our community will not be silenced. And our fight, in honor of Marsha P. Johnson and so many others who came before, continues.”
aedy miller (they/she), Communications Manager for Garden State Equality:
“The erasure of transgender and queer people from this pivotal moment in the fight for lived and legal equality is disgraceful. Shamelessly attempting to remove transgender and queer people from the historical narrative does not change the fact that they were there. It does not change the fact that transgender and queer people were often the leaders of the fight. And it does not change the fact that the rights and protections we enjoy today are the direct results of decades of activism by transgender and queer people — both those whose names we know, like New Jersey’s own Marsha P. Johnson, and the countless whose names we’ll never know but whose legacy we honor nonetheless.”