Since the beginning of Trump’s second term in office, the president is not only denying the existence of trans people through legislation—he’s literally erasing them from all government websites. Now almost 1,000 off-duty park rangers are volunteering to create an archive and preserve those pages from destruction.
In honor of Trans Day of Visibility, Resistance Rangers—a “community of off-duty, illegally fired, and former/retired National Park Service employees” combating Trump’s agenda—launched a queer-focused branch of its resistance movement.
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Grizzly Pines, an outdoor venue in Navasota, Texas, chose Trans Day of Visibility to reiterate its trans-exclusionary policies.
Called Rangers Uncensored, this group is amassing an archive of government websites that have been removed or altered to exclude queer stories. The page is also a resource for general education on queer history.
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“Some have called the National Park Service ‘America’s storyteller,’” the group writes. “According to the National Parks Conservation Association, more than two-thirds of America’s national park sites are devoted to protecting history and culture. As rangers, we are public servants and public historians. We tell all Americans’ stories.”
On February 13, the Trump administration edited the Stonewall National Monument website to remove all instances of the words “transgender” and “queer,” blatantly erasing the contributions of trans people like Marsha P Johnson to queer liberation. As a national monument, Stonewall falls under the jurisdiction of the NPS, which is subject to the federal executive.
RelatedGrizzly Pines, an outdoor venue in Navasota, Texas, chose Trans Day of Visibility to reiterate its trans-exclusionary policies.
But Stonewall is not the only site subject to censorship. “Over 100 NPS website pages have been deactivated,” Rangers Uncensored says. “In 233 more instances, LGBTQ+ has been changed to LGB in a more subtle erasure.”
This censorship is not limited to the queer and trans community. Pages detailing important historical episodes in the rights of women and people of color as well as information on climate change have also faced removal.
“The removal of this content does not erase this history,” the group writes. “These stories matter. Now, more than ever, they are important to share, loudly and authentically.”
While many pages have been targeted, Trump has made no secret of scapegoating the trans community both on the campaign trail and in office. “The National Park Service’s purge of queer history is part of a larger ongoing attack on the rights of transgender people,” Rangers Uncensored warns. “Language has power; by attempting to control the narrative around transgender history, the current administration is sending a clear message about power and rights.
“We as park rangers have another message: Transgender people have always been here.”
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