Just last week, the Department of the Interior announced that the home of Henry Gerber, LGBT activist, pioneer and Chicagoan, would become a National Historic Landmark. Gerber’s home is the site where the first LGBT rights organization, The Society for Human Rights, was formed and eventually received its charter in 1924. The deeming of Gerber’s home as a National Historic Landmark makes it only the second LGBT-related space to be given that distinction by the federal government. The Obama Administration has acknowledged the need for improvement. Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, announced last year the agency’s intent to identify places and events that commemorate important occurrences for the LGBT community.
The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, was the first LGBT related property to be designated a National Historic Landmark. A 1969 riot that occurred between Stonewall Inn patrons and the New York Police Department is widely considered to be the event that sparked the modern LGBT rights movement. States and localities are also taking action to protect and incorporate more LGBT related properties and events on public lands. In fact, the Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York City recently granted landmark status to Stonewall, which expanding protections for preservation of this site. Letitia James, New York City’s public advocate, said with regard to the city’s decision to make the bar a landmark, “It must be protected against rapacious developers who would destroy the history of this sacred place and all it represents.”
The inclusion of prominent LGBT figures among other Americans recognized on public lands for their contributions to improving the social fabric of the nation bestows dignity and a public recognition in a manner that has not always been acknowledged throughout American history. Though recognition of LGBT people on public lands is symbolic, the numerous contributions that the LGBT community have made to the progress of the country deserve to be remembered, reflected upon, and recognized equally alongside other Americans.
Public lands have long played a major role in the country’s pursuit of equality and fairness for all. One of the most famous gatherings on public lands in American History — the 1963 March on Washington — was organized by Bayard Rustin, a black gay man whose contributions and legacy deserve to be honored alongside that of other civil rights era icons such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr..
Rustin’s example is also one that highlights and acknowledges that LGBT people are seldom members of only the LGBT community; they are simultaneously members of numerous ethnic, religious, class, ability, and racial groups. Currently, less than a quarter of the more than 450 national parks and monuments have a primary focus on women, communities of color, or other traditionally under-represented groups. Honoring the LGBT community through increased representation on public lands honors and celebrates the contributions of those who live at the intersection of multiple identities and reinforces the Department of the Interior’s commitment to its mission to “protect the nation’s cultural heritage.”
A recently published report from the Center for American Progress shows that Presidents have a much better track record than Congress with regard to designating inclusive national monuments and parks. In fact, the report indicates that 33 percent of the inclusive designations were made by presidents compared to just 22 percent of those made by Congress. This is thanks to a provision of the Antiquities Act that provides the President with the ability to designate national parks and monuments independent of Congressional approval. While gridlock continues on Capitol Hill, there remain tangible steps that the White House can take to honor Americans too often left behind.
Public lands are not immune to national conversations on inclusion and diversity and as such, the contributions of LGBT Americans deserve to be equally spotlighted across the nation.