Parks Group Condemns Erasure of LGBTQ+ History from Park Service Website

WASHINGTON – Following an analysis of National Park Service web content, the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) found the federal government has deleted and scrubbed more than a dozen National Park Service webpages related to LGBTQ+ history.

NPCA unequivocally condemns these changes and calls on the Department of the Interior to restore these educational and historical documents for the public without delay. See a list of confirmed changes below.

In some cases, entire webpages have been deleted and are no longer available for public access. In other instances, webpages have been altered to remove the term “LGBTQ” in favor of “LGB,” inaccurately reframing LGBTQ+ history as purely defined by or relevant to lesbian, bisexual, and gay people. This includes the previously reported removal of references to transgender and queer people on the Stonewall National Monument website.

A prime example of this pattern is LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History (often referred to as the LGBTQ Theme Study), which was first published during the National Park Service’s Centennial in 2016. An exhaustive academic analysis of LGBTQ+ history and culture in the United States, the LGBTQ Theme Study identifies the people, places, and events that shaped the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The theme study is no longer available on the National Park Service website as of March 2025.

In an effort to preserve public access to the LGBTQ Theme Study, the National Parks Conservation Association has chosen to make it downloadable from our website. It may be viewed here.

Under the National Park Service Centennial Act, the National Park Service is required by law to ‘‘…ensure that management of System units and related areas is enhanced by the availability and use of a broad program of the highest quality interpretation and education.” This includes ensuring that the Park Service’s work ‘‘reflect(s) different cultural backgrounds, ages, education, gender, abilities, ethnicity, and needs.”

More than two-thirds of America’s national park sites are devoted to protecting history and culture, from Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument to Gettysburg National Military Park.

The Park Service is one of the country’s largest repositories of American history, protecting millions of historic artifacts and landmarks. Park Service rangers teach park visitors about a wide variety of American stories at more than 430 national park sites throughout the United States. Students and scholars seeking to learn more about American history rely on the National Park Service’s expertise and accurate information, in person and on the agency website.

Alan Spears, National Parks Conservation Association Senior Director for Cultural Resources, said: “LGBTQ+ history is history, period. It should remain represented at national parks and on the National Park Service website, so that people all over the world can learn about it from the best of the best in the history preservation business.

“From Marsha P. Johnson to Bayard Rustin to Harvey Milk, LGBTQ+ people have left an indelible mark on our country. Without their leadership, the United States of America might look very different today. LGBTQ+ stories are part of our shared American inheritance, and these changes to the Park Service webpage are nothing short of an attempt to erase history.”

“As mandated by law, dedicated National Park Service staff have poured more than one hundred years of work into preserving, protecting, and interpreting the stories that built our nation. By removing these educational and historical materials from public access, the administration is making it harder for National Park Service staff to fulfill their obligation to tell the stories of all Americans and maintain an accurate account of history. The Park Service needs more resources dedicated towards exploring LGBTQ+ stories at national parks, not fewer.” Spears continued.

“The National Parks Conservation Association calls upon the federal government to immediately restore these important historical and educational documents for public access.”

“These efforts to tamper with our history set an unacceptable precedent. What history will they attempt to distort and delete next?” Spears finished.

In addition to the LGBTQ Theme Study, National Park Service webpages that have been removed include:

The Pride Guide

This webpage provided visitors with an interactive resource intended to serve as a workbook companion to the LGBTQ Theme Study. The Pride Guide was intended as a tool for gay-straight (or gender-sexuality) alliances and the public seeking to learn about LGBTQ history and bridge divides.

Philadelphia’s Heritage of LGBTQ Activism

This webpage provide visitors with stories from Philadelphia’s long history of LGBTQ protests and activism is exceptional. It included information on “Reminder Days,” protests staged annually at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on July 4 from 1965 through 1969 by organizations like the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis. LGBTQ+ protesters gathered to “remind,” the public that not all Americans enjoyed the same rights enshrined in the Declaration of Independence.

This webpage also provided information on Dewey’s Sit-In in 1965, when LGBTQ+ protesters staged a demonstration to protest a local restaurant denying service to “homosexuals and persons wearing non-conformist clothing.”

Finally, the webpage described Giovanni’s Room, one of the oldest surviving LGBTQ+ bookstores in the country. A Philadelphia institution, Giovanni’s Room was a valuable resource for LGBTQ+ people during the AIDS epidemic.

Marsha P. Johnson

This webpage educated visitors about transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson, a key figure in the Stonewall Uprising. She was a leader in LGBTQ activist circles for many decades, eventually co-founding Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with fellow activist Sylvia Rivera. Learn more about Marsha P. Johnson here.

Sylvia Rivera

This webpage educated visitors about transgender activist Sylvia Rivera, a key figure in the Gay Liberation Front protests and other key demonstrations during the Stonewall Uprising and afterward. Rivera co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with fellow activist Marsha P. Johnson. Learn more about Sylvia Rivera here.

Pauli Murray

This webpage educated visitors about Pauli Murray, an attorney who played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement, gender equality movement and in LGBTQ activism. A co-founder of the National Organization for Women, Murray’s legal expertise contributed significantly to the NAACP’s legal victory in Brown v. Board of Education. Murray was also a coauthor with Ruth Bader Ginsberg on the ACLU legal brief for Reed v. Reed, a landmark gender equality case before the Supreme Court.

Murray defied traditional gender norms, and scholars and biographers have characterized the attorney as a transgender historical figure.

ClubHouse Bar

This webpage educated visitors about The ClubHouse, a prominent Black gay bar founded in Washington, DC’s Petworth neighborhood in 1974. According to Historic American Buildings Survey documents, “in the 1980s, the club became an important site for HIV/AIDS activism, sponsoring the District’s first forum on AIDS among African Americans. The club also served as the first home for Us Helping Us, a support group and public health organization for queer black men living with HIV/AIDS.”

The Friends Home (Jemima Wilkinson House)

This webpage educated visitors about a controversial religious figure known as the Public Universal Friend. Born Jemima Wilkinson in 1752, this evangelist identified by neither male or nor female pronouns and dressed in an androgynous manner. Historians have discussed Wilkinson as a possible early transgender historical figure, due to their rejection of gender binaries.

Webpages that replace LGBTQ with LGB:

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the LGBTQ Community

This webpage educates visitors about the impacts of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on LGBTQ Americans. A landmark bill signed into law in by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 specifically forbade discrimination in public places on the basis gender, race, and other criteria.

A 2020 Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia found that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Bostock each had impacts on transgender and queer people, not just lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.

The Cold War, Lavender Scare, and LGBTQ Activism

This webpage educates visitors about the impacts of the Lavender Scare. Recently depicted in the television show Fellow Travelers, the Lavender Scare was a concerted campaign by the United States government beginning in the 1950s to identify and fire government employees suspected of being a member of the LGBTQ community.

The Lavender Scare had ripple effects across the country, contributing significantly to LGBTQ organizing and activism even today. It is not just history for or about lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.

Matthew Shepard Memorial

This webpage educates visitors about the Matthew Shepard Memorial in Laramie, Wyoming, part of a series of articles titled “Finding Our Place: LGBTQ Heritage in United States.” This memorial bench is located on the University of Wyoming campus, honoring the memory of Matthew Shepard, victim of one of the United States’ most infamous hate crimes.

Shepard’s murder – by men who targeted him for his sexual orientation – inspired an avalanche of LGBTQ activism across the country and led to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.

Matthew Shepard’s legacy had impacts on activism for transgender and queer individuals, too. The legislation enacted in his name prohibits hate crimes against people based on gender identity and other criteria, not just homosexuality.

Franklin E. Kameny Residence

This webpage educates visitors about the Franklin E. Kameny Residence, part of a series of articles titled “Finding Our Place: LGBTQ Heritage in United States.”

This historic building in Washington, DC’s Friendship Heights neighborhood was the home of astronomer Dr. Franklin E. Kameny, who was terminated from the federal government during the Lavender Scare due to his homosexuality. Kameny went on to become a prominent activist and leader in LGBTQ activist circles, becoming president of the gay rights group the Mattachine Society.

Kameny himself was gay, but the impacts of his activism had and continue to have ripple effects for generations of LGBTQ people.

The Names Project and the AIDS Quilt

This webpage educates visitors about the AIDS Memorial Quilt, a massive community art project that serves as a tribute to people who died due to HIV/AIDS, which disproportionately impacts LGBTQ people. The Quilt has been displayed at key locations like the National Mall and serves as a rallying point for LGBTQ activism.

While many depictions of AIDS prominently feature gay men, the Human Rights Campaign estimates that more than 20 percent of transgender women in the United States are living with HIV. The AIDS Memorial Quilt continues to be a focal point for LGBTQ activism on AIDS/HIV related care, not just activism by and for gay men.

About the National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.6 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.