Editor’s Note: A version of this story was published in the Summer 2025 issue of Extant, a publication of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.
National Park Service sign at the Stonewall National Monument in the West Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. | Photo: Kaitlin Pomerantz
In 2016, the Stonewall Inn, on a small stretch of Christopher Street in New York City, and the small triangular park in front of it was designated a national monument by President Barack Obama, making it the first national monument commemorating LGBTQIA+ history. The Stonewall Uprising–a series of clashes and demonstrations in June 1969 in response to police raids at Stonewall–is widely regarded as a pivotal moment in the fight for LGBTQIA+ rights, and the area has become a sort of pilgrimage site.
However, on February 13, 2025, the National Park Service scrubbed the “T” and “Q” in LGBTQIA+, as well as the words “transgender” and “queer,” from its webpage about the Stonewall National Monument and from several other Park Service webpages referencing LGBTQIA+ history. Almost immediately, mementos were left at the site that reflected a definitive stance: The contribution of trans individuals in Stonewall’s history would not be so easily erased.
“As a preservation movement, we say in no uncertain terms that LGBTQ+ history is our history, and it needs to be amplified and celebrated. We choose not to remain silent while attempts are made to deny the existence of trans people, both past and present. Revising the historical record for political purposes is dangerous and unacceptable.” — PRESERVATION LEAGUE OF NEW YORK STATE
Since February, more than 100 queer and transgender stories have been erased from Park Service websites. The agency’s seminal 2016 LGBTQIA+ context study, “LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer History,” an oft-cited and thorough reference document, was also removed. The shocking act of erasure was said to have been done in compliance with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump on January 20 called “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”
A screenshot of the National Park Service website taken in April 2025 shows that the “T” (trans) and “Q” (queer) initials have been removed from what had previously read “LGBTQ.”
The removals have deeply disturbed many of those working for the agency and in the broader fields of history and historic preservation. The stunning about-face makes one thing clear: Preserving LGBTQIA+ histories and stories is more important than ever.
Fortunately, historians, artists, and citizens in Philadelphia’s LGBTQIA+ community have been doing so in powerful and creative ways for decades. While recognition takes different forms, Philadelphia’s landscape is rich with sites connected to the ongoing fight for LGBTQIA+ rights, like the 1965 Dewey’s lunch counter sit-in, an important precursor to Stonewall, where young, gender-nonconforming patrons protested being denied service, or the Reminder Day pickets that were held annually during the latter half of the 1960s outside of Independence Hall to advocate for gay rights.
LGBTQIA+ History Is Philadelphia History
A historical marker is kind of like a tweet, said Rami George, an interdisciplinary artist whose work draws on archival material and found imagery. George’s point is that with the limited character count available on a marker, the narratives told, the language used, and who is included and who is not add other layers of meaning. “I am interested in social events, uprisings, solidarity, and wanted to see which of those events get commemorated,” George said. The diner at 17th and Chancellor Streets where the Dewey’s lunch counter sit-in occurred in 1965 later became the beloved Little Pete’s. In 2017, the building was demolished by New York developers who built a hotel in its place. A year later, the site was commemorated with a historic marker. However, George noted, there was some opposition to the marker within the community because any language about gender nonconforming individuals was omitted, even though they had been integral participants in the action.
The public presentation of history–what is emphasized, what is included, what is excluded–constantly evolves and is a barometer of a society’s outlook, priorities and values.” — ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN HISTORIANS
While there are few physical sites or buildings that are listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places specifically for their association with LGBTQIA+ history (the first, the Camac Baths building at the corner of Camac and Chancellor Streets, was listed in 2019), thousands of historical events have taken place across the city, and the influence of the community continues to play a significant role. Events like the Dewey’s sit-in and annual reminders are recognized by physical historic markers. There are currently only 12 state- recognized markers in Philadelphia that highlight LGBTQIA+ history. Yet, for many events that are not recognized, chances are good that Bob Skiba has mapped them.
Skiba is prolific in his dedication to sharing the stories of LGBTQIA+ Philadelphia. He leads popular walking tours of the Gayborhood, runs a blog called The Philadelphia Gayborhood Guru, teaches a course called “Queer Community and Culture” at Thomas Jefferson University, and serves as the curator of collections at the William Way Community Center. In addition to all of that, Skiba has spent years curating the Philadelphia LGBT Mapping Project, an initiative of the William Way Center, which “celebrates sites in the Greater Philadelphia area that are important queer history and community.”
The LGBT Mapping Project created by Bob Skiba.
The LGBT Mapping Project now includes more than 1,100 sites in the Philadelphia area and paints an incredible picture of Queer Philadelphia–marking layers of history, from cornelia Chapin’s Giant Frog sculpture that has graced Rittenhouse Square since 1940 (according to the map, Chapin lived with fellow sculptor and “close companion” Marion Sanford for 40 years) to the West Philadelphia location of Adodi International, an “intergenerational Brotherhood of Black Same Gender Loving (gay) Men across the African Diaspora” and Philadelphia’s oldest continuously operating Black gay group, founded by therapist Clifford Rawlins in 1986.
Last year, for Black History Month, activist and historian Gary Hines gave a talk titled “Black and Queer in Philadelphia: From the 1930s to Today” at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Hines has worked closely with Skiba, filling in gaps specifically related to the Black queer scene. In his talk, Hines highlighted social clubs like the Gelede Sisters, Mox Nix, and the Philadelphia Gourmets, who coordinated gatherings in private homes or at establishments that were known to be safe and queer-friendly. Documents and history related to these groups can be hard to come by.
“Gay and lesbian African Americans in Philadelphia were often caught between the racism of white male gay bars in [Center City] and the homophobia of Black neighborhood bars,” said Hines. In the 1960s to the 1990s, he said there were many prominently Black gay bars on South Street, north of Market Street, and in West and North Philly. Hines named some of the spots and shared photos from them in his talk–“The Ritz, Pep’s, The Fuel Pump, The Smart Place.” Yet, bars and nightclubs are inherently ephemeral. None of them still exist today. They are documented, however, on the LGBT Philadelphia map.
Of the National Park Service erasures, Hines said, “I think it’s absolutely horrible that all of this is being erased. Particularly for me as a Black gay man, it’s twofold: The Blackness and the gayness is being targeted.” If anything, it has reinforced his dedication to this project. “If the Smithsonian, Stonewall, and other places are going to change their narratives, we are going to need these other outlets,” Hines said.
Insights from the Archives
As Hines’ and Skiba’s work attest to, queer archives are a crucial resource. Traditional archives don’t represent everyone and tend to be skewed to reflect those with status, money, and power. People who didn’t conform to social norms or weren’t well-resourced, or communities that have had to keep a low profile due to fear of harm or suppression are often represented poorly or not at all. Dedicated LGBTQIA+ archives, like the John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives at the William Way LGBT Community Center, are amazing resources that seek to preserve those stories.
Selection from the Archives, a 2023 exhibition by artist Rami George, who searched for underrepresented voices in the John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives at William Way LGBT Community Center. | Photo courtesy of John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives
A 2021 Pew Fellow, George has spent a significant amount of time exploring the John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives, first when they were conducting research for their MFA and now as the first artist in residence. George said that before starting graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania, they had an idea of what archives could offer, but hadn’t spent much time in any. After meeting John Anderies, who serves as director there, George struck up a relationship and became more familiar with the contents of the archive. “I knew I was scratching at the surface of a lot of histories,” George said.
During their fellowship, George dug in, searching for underrepresented stories of lesbian, POC, trans and nonbinary, and disabled people. The work evolved into the creation of a visual finding aid, which was part of the exhibition “Selections from the Archives.”
AMong the objects George selected to display was the photo album once owned by James E. Hardyway, a member of the Black social club Mox Nix in the 1970s and 1980s. | Photo courtesy of John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives
“Archives have a lack of POC representation,” said George. “I know there is some [representation], and I want to mark it so that people can go see it and are invited to add to it.” George has also explored reimagining elements of historical markers in their installations, applying fonts and graphic design choices to make temporary pop-up signs of sorts highlighting quotes from archival material. In connection to their own activism, their current line of research focuses on queer anti-war activism through the ages.
A few years ago, Hines encountered a community member who had held onto a stack of photo albums once owned by James E. Haryway, a member of the Black gay social club Mox Nix in the 1970s and 1980s. Hines arranged to have the photos donated to the William Way Center archive, where they will live on, illuminating an era of Philly’s Black LGBTQIA+ social scene for future generations.
Straight from the Source
LGBTQIA+ history is inseparable from present-day activism. Because the struggle for rights is ongoing, oral histories from members of the community who are engaged in the fight are a powerful tool to preserve those stories. “Philadelphia has a very rich and queer history,” said David Acosta, an activist, poet, writer, curator and cultural organizer. Acosta was deeply involved in the Philadelphia chapter of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in the 1980s and 1990s, helping plan actions, including a demonstration protesting President George H.W. Bush’s visit to the Bellevue Stratford on September 12, 1991.
Hundreds of AIDS activists from ACT UP Philadelphia blocked Broad Street in front of the Bellevue Stratford when President George H.W. Bush visited Philadelphia during his reelection campaign in 1991. | Photo: Au Courant, a gay newsweekly, courtesy of John J. Wilcox, Jr. Archives
“Philadelphia’s ACT UP was interesting in the sense that some of us were activists that were really cognizant of intersectionality work before that was en vogue,” said Acosta. “Part of that was because some of us were people of color and we were in ‘leadership’ positions,” he continued. Acosta noted that there were no formal leadership roles, but a momentum kept up by dedicated members, including nights spent Xeroxing and organizing until the wee hours of the morning, often after a full workday. “We were extremely organized. We didn’t do things haphazardly.”
With the protest of Bush’s visit, “we really wanted to go and connect the dots around what was then a Republican assault on so many fronts,” Acosta said. “Much like now, except now, of course, it’s much, much worse.” In preparation for the action, ACT UP built a broad coalition with other communities who were working on interconnected issues, like labor unions, housing organizers, censorship issues, and more. Groups like the National Organization of Women, the National Abortion Rights Action League, local union employees, and others were in attendance. “The day of the demonstration, we had several thousand people–it was massive.” During the protest, ACT UP dropped a prop coffin (the group often used such props to draw attention to the number of people dying from the AIDS crisis). According to news reports, protestors pushed against the police barricades, and the police responded with violence, using barricades to push the crowd, hitting multiple protestors with nightsticks, spraying tear gas, and bringing in more officers on horseback.
Front cover of the October-November 1969 issue of The Ladder showing Annual Reminder Day protests in front of Independence Hall. Barbara Gittings was the editor of the publication, which was a widely circulated lesbian journal. | Photo courtesy of Outhistory.org
When asked how he would like actions like these to be commemorated, Acosta said that they live on in the memories of the activists who took part and their stories, recorded in the form of oral histories. While physical plaques are helpful, alternative websites, QR codes that can link to photographs and accounts, interviews and writing are all useful ways to ensure the true depth and complexity of the stories are preserved, he said.
While working on his dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania in the early-to mid-1990s, history student Marc Stein conducted and transcribed oral histories from dozens of interviews for the Philadelphia LGBTQ History Project, 1940-1980. The interviews with major players in the activism scene like Barbara Gittings, Kiyoshi Kuromiya, and Tyrone Smith formed the basis of his book, but the transcriptions of the oral histories are all available in an online archive via OutHistory.
Another impactful oral history project by Sharon Hayes, a Philadelphia-based artist and chair of fine arts at Penn’s Weitzman School of Design, recorded group conversations with elders in queer communities in Philadelphia, Tennessee, and Los Angeles. The piece, which was featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial, is a two-channel video installation of these conversations stitched together, as members in each group reflect on their personal history, relationship to the queer community and activism.
The Fight Continues
“I’ve seen so much in my life and as a queer historian,” Skiba said. “I don’t think there’s been this much pushback against queer people since the 1950s. They’ve gone for the most vulnerable part of the community, and they’re kicking them while they’re down.” In Skiba’s mind, this means it is even more critical to keep talking, keep writing and keep stories alive.
Thanks to an intergenerational dedication to this work, there’s solidarity and hope–even at Stonewall. The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, run by the independent nonprofit Pride Live, issued a statement in response to NPS actions, which currently sits on its website’s landing page: “Pride Live is a nonprofit organization founded on the principle of advancing the fight for full LGBTQIA+ equality. Through the creation of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, we’re unwavering in our effort to protect and preserve Stonewall’s legacy and history. Our space is inextricably linked with and honors the brave pioneers, especially transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, who led the Stonewall Rebellion. Independently-owned and -operated, and 100 percent supported by donations, we will continue our mission to ensure that every person has access to learn about and see themselves in history.”
Some Key LGBTQIA+ Figures in Philadelphia
Kiyoshi Kuromiya (1943-2000): Kuromiya was a Japanese American LGBTQ+ rights activist and author. Born in an internment camp in Wyoming after his family was forcibly relocated, Kuromiya was involved with several social movements throughout his life, including HIV/AIDS activism, the anti-war movement and the fight for civil rights. In 1969, he was a founding member of Philadelphia’s Gay Liberation Front. Kuromiya embraced the intersectionality of the fight for civil rights: He served as an openly gay delegate to the Black Panther Convention, marched in Selma, and supported many other causes through his work.
Barbara Gittings (1932-2007): Gittings was a major player in the early LGBTQ+ civil rights movement. Though Gittings was based in Philadelphia, she started the New York chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first lesbian civil rights organization in the United States founded in San Francisco in 1955. Gittings also organized the Annual Reminder marches, the first public demonstrations for gay and lesbian equality in the U.S., which took place in front of Independence Hall. Gittings was integral to the fight to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder, disrupting the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in 1971 and organizing a panel in 1972, recruiting Dr. John E. Fryer to give his famous Dr. Anonymous address.
Dr. John E. Fryer (1937-2003): Dr. Fryer was a psychiatrist and gay man, working at a time when being gay was considered a mental illness. A nontenured professor at Temple University, in 1972, Fryer delivered a speech at the annual convention of the American Psychiatric Association, where he talked about the experience of closeted gay psychiatrists, in disguise. Fryer delivered the speech as Dr. Henry Anonymous, wearing a Richard Nixon mask, wig, oversized suit and a voice-distortion microphone, and received a standing ovation. The following year, homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a major step toward reducing legal bases for discrimination. Fryer’s former home at 138 West Walnut Lane was listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places in 2022.
Tyrone Smith (1943-2025): Smith was a community organizer who was deeply involved in Philadelphia, specifically as a champion of the Black LGBTQ+ community. Smith co- founded Unity Inc., a community organization that was one of the first toaddress the issue of HIV and AIDS for Black gay men in Philadelphia. He also served in several capacities, including as a social services adviser to former mayors Wilson Goode and John F. Street. He was involved with the Minority AIDS Council, served as a community adviser to the Center for AIDS Research at the University of Pennsylvania, and served on the boards of We the People, the William J. Craig Foundation and the Colours Organization Inc.
Charlene Arcila (1963-2015): Arcila was a transgender woman who founded the Philadelphia Trans-Health Conference in 2001. The conference, which takes place annually, is centered on transgender health and wellness and is the largest free trans- focused conference in the world. Arcila was also at the forefront of a movement to ban M/F gender markers on SEPTA passes.
