First trans people, now bisexuals: Stonewall National Monument website further erases LGBTQ+ history

The US government is further erasing LGBTQ+ history after removing mentions of bisexual people from the Stonewall National Monument website.

A website for the New York monument, which commemorates the historic 1969 riots outside the Stonewall Inn led by trans women of colour, has seemingly removed mentions of bisexual people from its official description.

It comes after the National Park Service, following President Trump’s series of executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the public and private sectors., removed mentions of trans people from the website in February, prompting widespread outrage from LGBTQ+ people around the world.

Archived versions of the website from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine show that a description of the monument, which features hundreds of Pride flags across a fence in front of the Stonewall Inn, replaced the acronym LGBTQ+ with LGB.

Further modifications, initially reported by independent reporter Erin Reed and seemingly made in April, have removed the acronym altogether, claiming that only “lesbian and gay” people were involved in the historic riots.

There are now only two mentions of bisexual people on the entire official website, compared to the eight before the modifications were made.

Despite this, the website’s “Education” section still features prominent photos of bisexual and transgender activists during the riots, including Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, both of whom led the riots.

The changes come as part of a continued campaign by the US government to erase vital LGBTQ+ resources from official websites, including pages on HIV prevention, statistics on homophobic and transphobic violence, and more.

Democracy Now reported in February that over 8,000 pages were scrubbed from US government websites, including from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the State Department.

US non-profit GLAAD wrote that the changes made were “blatant attempts” by US president Donald Trump to “discriminate against and erase the legacies of transgender and queer Americans.”

“This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history, but it also dishonours the immense contributions of transgender individuals – especially transgender women of colour,” a spokesperson for the non-profit continued.

“Christo-fascist, neo-Nazi administration”

A petition created in March urging the government to stop modifying the website to erase LGBTQ+ history has gained over 47,000 signatures at the time of reporting. It came after LGBTQ+ New Yorkers marched on the monument to protest the website’s modification.

Tanya Asapansa-Johnson Walker, a prominent activist, said during the protest that trans and queer people have “been here since the beginning of time.”

“We’re here to stay and we will not be erased by a Christo-fascist, neo-Nazi administration,” they continued.