NPS makes place for gay Americans

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell: Visitors will now learn about LGBT history on field trips to park service sites



Interior Secretary Sally Jewell appeared at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, the site of the 1969 riots that helped launch the modern gay rights movement, to announce a National Park Service Theme Study to interpret and commemorate sites related to LGBT history.(Facebook photo: nps.gov)

Published Jun 3, 2014 at 1:00 pm (Updated Jun 3, 2014)

By Karen Matthews

NEW YORK — The announcement May 30 that the National Park Service will begin installing markers at places of importance to the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans is a step toward including them in the national narrative — and components of education, supporters said.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell made the announcement at the Stonewall Inn, the scene of riots in June 1969 that are widely credited with starting the modern gay rights movement. Stonewall was made a national historic landmark in 2000, and June is widely celebrated as LGBT Pride Month.

Jewell said the nation is on a journey to expand civil rights to underrepresented groups. The process on LGBT issues mirrors efforts the service already has undertaken to preserve and promote locations that reflect the roles of Latinos, Asian-Americans and women in U.S. history.

“Part of the job of the National Park Service is to tell this story," she said.

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June 28 is the anniversary of Stonewall.