The birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement is now officially considered at risk.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation announced this week that the Stonewall National Monument has been added to its 2026 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, sounding alarms over what preservationists describe as growing efforts to censor LGBTQ+ history at the federal level.
The designation places one of the country’s most significant queer landmarks alongside historic sites facing threats from climate change, redevelopment, neglect, and political interference. For LGBTQ+ advocates, however, the concern surrounding Stonewall cuts deeper than physical preservation. They say the issue is whether the full story of queer liberation will continue to be publicly acknowledged at all.
Designated in 2016 under former President Barack Obama, Stonewall became the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history. Located in New York City’s Greenwich Village, the site commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, a pivotal moment that galvanized the modern gay rights movement after patrons fought back against a police raid at the Stonewall Inn.
Now, organizations that helped secure the monument’s historic designation say federal actions are threatening how that history is being interpreted and presented to the public.
Concerns Over Erasure
According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, recent federal actions altered interpretive materials connected to the monument, including the temporary removal of the Pride flag and references to transgender people who participated in the uprising.
While the Pride flag was later restored following legal action, advocacy groups argue the damage extended beyond a single symbol. Online materials connected to the monument reportedly remain incomplete, with critics warning that omissions involving transgender and queer people distort the historical record.
“This comes at a time when the LGBTQ+ community finds itself under sustained assault from a number of federal government actions,” the release stated, citing the removal of LGBTQ+ content from federal websites, cuts to grant funding for queer initiatives, and efforts to eliminate “T” and “Q” references from official language.
Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said the moment echoes the courage displayed during the uprising itself.
“Fifty-seven years ago it took incredible bravery for LGBTQ+ New Yorkers to stand up to the harassment from authorities that they had grown accustomed to,” Quillen said. “Today, bravery is again required to ensure the full story of the Stonewall Uprising is told at the National Monument, including the roles of transgender and gender-nonconforming people in the events of 1969.”
Why Stonewall Still Matters
For many LGBTQ+ Americans, Stonewall is more than a landmark. It functions as a living symbol of resistance, visibility, and collective memory.
Ken Lustbader, co-director of the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, emphasized the monument’s cultural importance beyond New York City.
“Stonewall National Monument, the first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ history, is a tangible reminder of the LGBTQ community’s role in shaping American culture and society,” Lustbader said. “Its full story must be protected from erasure because LGBTQ people are, and always have been, part of the American experience.”
The NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project has spent years documenting queer history across the city through archives, walking tours, education programs, and landmark advocacy. Its interactive database now includes more than 500 LGBTQ-related historic sites spanning centuries of New York history.
Meanwhile, Making Gay History, another organization involved in preserving queer narratives, warned against sanitizing the uprising’s legacy.
“The Stonewall Uprising of June 1969 changed the course of history,” said executive director Eric Marcus. “Failing to preserve and amplify that history in the place where it happened would be an affront to their memories and an insult to the LGBTQ community.”
A Tense Anniversary Year
The announcement arrives as supporters prepare to mark the monument’s 10th anniversary later this year, a milestone that was expected to celebrate how far LGBTQ+ visibility has come since Stonewall became federally recognized.
Instead, advocates say the anniversary has become a rallying point for protecting queer history from political revisionism.
Kristen Sykes, Northeast Regional Director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said censorship efforts directly conflict with the purpose of national parks and monuments.
“The events at Stonewall changed our history forever and continue to inspire us today,” Sykes said. “Censorship in our national parks is wrong — it goes against the very values of our democracy and ideals our parks represent.”
The National Parks Conservation Association, which has advocated for park preservation since 1919, joined other groups in calling for the restoration of complete and accurate educational materials tied to the monument.
More Than One Monument
The fight over Stonewall also reflects a broader debate about who gets remembered in American history, and how.
For decades, LGBTQ+ stories were excluded from textbooks, museums, and official archives. Stonewall’s federal recognition marked a rare institutional acknowledgment of queer activism and the people who risked everything to demand visibility.
Advocates now argue that preserving the monument means preserving those stories in full, especially the contributions of transgender women, gender-nonconforming people, drag performers, and queer people of color who were central to the uprising.
As Pride celebrations approach nationwide, the endangered designation is likely to intensify conversations around visibility, historical preservation, and the political stakes surrounding LGBTQ+ representation in public spaces.
Because for many in the community, Stonewall was never just history. It was proof that resistance could change the country.
