Featured Image Credit: Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
Topics: LGBTQ, Transgender, Donald Trump, New York, US News
Emily Brown
Topics: LGBTQ, Transgender, Donald Trump, New York, US News
One of the executive orders signed by Donald Trump on his return to the White House has been hit with backlash after it resulted in major changes being made to the website for the Stonewall National Monument.
The monument is located in New York City's Greenwich Village and marks the location where the Stonewall Rebellion began in 1969, when a police raid at a gay bar led to riots and a milestone moment in the push for equality.
Barack Obama designated the location a monument during his time in office in 2016, and details about the location have since been featured on the National Parks Service website.
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Prior to the beginning of Trump's second term in office, the website's home page explained: "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ+) person was illegal."
However, in the wake of an executive order from Trump, which stated the government would only recognize male and female as biological sexes, references to 'transgender' and 'queer' have been removed.
Now, the website reads: "Before the 1960s, almost everything about living openly as a lesbian, gay, bisexual (LGB) person was illegal."
The decision to remove references to entire communities has been met with widespread backlash and physical protests, with Stacy Lentz, co-owner of the Stonewall Inn and the chief executive of the nonprofit Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, accusing the Trump administration of trying to 'erase trans people from history and from existing'.
In an Instagram post, Lentz wrote: "There is no Pride without Trans folks leading that fight! Trying to erase them from the Birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement will not happen! We need to show up and speak out for our trans and nonbinary siblings who are under attack."
The Stonewall Inn and the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative also issued a joint statement on the website update, saying: "This blatant act of erasure 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.
"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 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."
In a post on Twitter, New York Governor Kathy Hochul wrote: "This is just cruel and petty. Transgender people play a critical role in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights — and New York will never allow their contributions to be erased."
Trump's executive order has claimed that 'efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being'.
It reads: "Accordingly, my Administration will defend women’s rights and protect freedom of conscience by using clear and accurate language and policies that recognize women are biologically female, and men are biologically male."
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact the LGBT national hotline at 888-843-4564, available Monday to Friday 4pm-12am ET and 12pm-5pm ET on Saturdays.