I owe it to them to remember and share their stories. People like me existed, they always have, and they always will - and many fought and died so that I could have an easier life. Reading the stories of figures like Johnson, Rivera and DeLarverie gave me a sense of community and much-needed perspective. When I finally started piecing together my queer identity, I didn’t have much in the way of guidance or LGBTQ role models. I didn’t even know “trans” was something a person could be (let alone that I could be it!).Ī National Park Service ranger gives out high fives at the New York City pride parade on June 26, 2016, two days after President Obama designated the area around the Stonewall Inn as the first national park site dedicated to LGBTQ history. And yet, my oddly sheltered upbringing included few openly LGB people and zero T people.

I grew up in New York City, a city famous for its bustling LGBTQ community. The idea of current and future generations losing access to these tales terrifies me. Yet few know their names - and because the site doesn’t have a visitor center, park-goers can easily miss out on learning their stories. Among those who fought for acceptance and equality are Sylvia Rivera, Stormé DeLarverie and Marsha P. It shares the struggle of hundreds of people who demonstrated in a six-night uprising against police discrimination and brutality in 1969. Stonewall National Monument is the only national park site specifically dedicated to the LGBTQ civil rights movement. camera icon Diana Davies, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library Johnson at a City Hall rally for LGBTQ rights, 1973.

Storme delarverie