Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Lgbtq History topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CB2 Human Services Committee to draft resolution opposing NPS change to Stonewall National Monument description
Summary
Committee members and public commenters debated the National Park Service’s removal of a reference to transgender people from the Stonewall National Monument website; committee agreed to draft a resolution requesting restoration and to refer it to the executive committee or full board.
The Human Services Committee of Community Board 2 discussed a recent change on the National Park Service website describing the Stonewall National Monument and agreed to draft a resolution opposing the alteration and request restoration of the prior language.
Susanna Aaron, chair of the Human Services Committee, said the issue concerns an NPS webpage that previously used the acronym "LGBT" or "LGBTQ" in its description of Stonewall but now omits the letter "T" in at least some places on the site. Aaron said the committee had supported the 2016 designation and that board members should register opposition to any change that alters the historical narrative. She read a statement into the record from community board member Chenal Ostrenz calling for restoration of full recognition, including trans and queer people.
Public commenters voiced competing views. Darlene Lutz, who identified herself as a resident and art historian, argued that contemporary identity frameworks have altered historical interpretation and expressed opposition to restoring the "T" in the monument language as she described the issue. By contrast, a college student who identified herself as a relative of a transgender person said removing the letter is "psychologically damaging" and that the change erases trans people’s history and identity. "It erases their history. It erases their identity," the student said.
Committee members discussed wording and form for a draft resolution. Several suggested reformatting the document as a set of "whereas" clauses that document the monument’s history and the committee’s objection, followed by a concise resolved clause asking the National Park Service to restore the earlier language. Members also discussed whether to reference broader acronyms (for example, LGBTQ, LGB, queer) and agreed to base the draft on the prior NPS wording where possible.
Because the committee did not have a quorum to adopt formal resolutions at the meeting, members agreed to prepare a draft and refer it for consideration by the executive committee or full board. Susanna Aaron said she would circulate revised language to committee members. The committee did not vote at the meeting; next steps noted were drafting the resolution and determining whether it should go to executive committee or full board for a vote.
