Protests Erupt At Stonewall After Trump Removes Trans People From Monument Website
At least one reporter counted the attendees of the protest to number over 1,000 people.
On Friday, protests erupted at Stonewall National Monument, the historic site of the Stonewall uprisings that ignited the modern gay rights movement and led to the first Pride celebrations in the United States. With less than 24 hours’ notice, demonstrators gathered in response to changes made by the Trump administration to the National Park Service website for the monument. The revisions erased transgender people from several sections of the site, altering LGBTQ+ to LGBQ+ before ultimately reducing it to just LGB. Protesters condemned the move as an attempt to rewrite history, stripping trans activists of their critical role in the uprising that catalyzed the fight for LGBTQ+ rights
Protesters chanted slogans such as “No LGB without the T!,” “When they’re done with us, they’re coming for you—wake up, wake up, this is your fight too!” and “Trans lives matter!” according to HuffPost journalist Matt Shuham. In a symbolic act of defiance, the National Park Service sign for Stonewall National Monument was altered with sidewalk chalk to read “Stonewall National Transgender Monument.” Another sign proclaimed, “The bricks didn’t throw themselves,” featuring images of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two transgender activists who played a pivotal role in the Stonewall uprisings and the subsequent fight for LGBTQ+ rights.
The protests follow a broader effort by the Trump administration to systematically erase any mention of “transgender” from government websites, now reaching the National Park Service. Before the recent update, the Stonewall National Monument page acknowledged that "before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal.” The revised version now states, “almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal,” effectively erasing transgender people from the historical narrative.
The edits didn’t stop there. Individual pages dedicated to transgender figures instrumental in the Stonewall uprising were also altered to erase transgender references. The changes were often sloppy and rushed, revealing the haphazard nature of the effort. In one glaring example, Sylvia Rivera’s section originally stated, “At a young age, Sylvia began fighting for gay and transgender rights.” The revised version read, “gay and rights,” with the word “transgender” removed entirely, rendering the sentence nonsensical.
Transgender history is inseparable from the history of Stonewall. Raids on LGBTQ+ bars were often justified by laws policing gendered clothing, disproportionately targeting transgender people. At Stonewall, Sylvia Rivera famously stated that while she did not “throw the first Molotov cocktail,” she did throw the second. Transgender woman Zazu Nova is among those credited with “throwing the first brick,” sparking the uprising. Marsha P. Johnson, another key figure in the protests that followed, played a critical role in shaping the movement. Erasing transgender people from the Stonewall narrative is a blatant attempt to rewrite history.
Stripping transgender people from Stonewall’s history is not just an act of historical revisionism—it is a calculated effort to erase an entire community from the very movement they helped ignite. Among the sweeping efforts to purge transgender identities from government records, passports, and healthcare guidance, this stands out as one of the most blatant attempts to rewrite reality. The Trump administration’s agenda is clear: to systematically erase transgender people from public life, beginning with the very acknowledgment of their existence. When a leader comes to power by demonizing a minority and one of their first acts is to erase all official recognition of that group, it should be a blaring alarm. This is not just political posturing—it is the groundwork for something far more dangerous, and something that transgender people are intent on resisting.
Yay people of NYC! I wish I could have been there. Supporting you!!
The revisionism is very concerning, but I’m glad that there is strong pushback. Just wanted to note that reducing the acronym “LGBTQ+” to “LGB” also eliminates any possibility of including asexual and intersex people. I use the acronym “LGBTQIA” to make clearer their inclusion instead of just grouping them under the “plus”. Transphobia often impacts intersex people of all genders, and asexual people of all genders are often invisible in queer and trans activism. As we fight back against fascism, trans and queer folks and allies need to include EVERYONE.