Thousands sign petition telling Trump not to erase Stonewall’s trans history

Over 25,000 individuals have signed a petition urging the Trump administration to restore the recognition of trans history on the Stonewall uprising website, ‘MSN’ reports.

References to trans and non-binary people were removed from the Stonewall national monument’s page on the National Park Service website, although trans women of colour played key roles in the 1969 riots. The monument’s description has replaced LGBTQ+, a term that includes trans individuals, with LGB, thereby only acknowledging lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in its narrative of the events following the police raids on the Stonewall Inn in New York.

This alteration sparked outrage among historians and the LGBTQ+ community, who accused Donald Trump of trying to “erase our history.” Consequently, hundreds of queer individuals protested outside the Stonewall bar on February 16.

“Trans people have been here since the beginning of time,” stated Tanya Asapansa-Johnson Walker, a well-known activist, during the protest. “We fought in all the wars. We’re creators, we have families and children. We’re just as much a part of this world as anyone else.

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

Following the protest, activism media site Care2 initiated a petition urging the government to cease erasing trans history and the legacy of the uprising.

“In a shocking and unjust move, the United States National Park Service has erased any mention of transgender people from the history of the Stonewall uprising,” wrote a Care2 spokesperson in the petition. This change was “further erasing the contributions of transgender individuals like Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera,” they continued.

“These courageous individuals not only contributed to the uprising but also founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, a group dedicated to supporting homeless trans youngsters in New York City. Erasing their legacy and [that] of all transgender people from this pivotal moment in history is an act of deliberate harm.”

As of the report’s timing, the petition had garnered around 25,800 signatures, nearing its target of 30,000. Care2, in an open letter, called on the government to reinstate the mention of trans individuals on the Stonewall uprising page, emphasising the importance of preserving “this vital part of our shared history for future generations.”

The letter continued: “Transgender people have always been a central part of the LGBTQ+ movement, and we cannot allow them to be written out of history.”