NPS Launches LGBT Sites Initiative

The National Park Service will begin considering more sites important to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender history in the United States, with the assistance of a panel of eighteen scholars.

From the New York Times:

The National Park Service will begin considering more sites important to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender history in the United States, with the assistance of a panel of eighteen scholars.  Department of the Interior Secretary Sandy Jewel is expected to announce the panel on Friday, May 30th outside the Stonewall Inn in New York City.  The committee will conduct a multi-year study exploring LGBT issues and themes across a wide range of disciplines before submitting its report sometime in 1916.  The study is being funded with $250,000 from the Gill Foundation, established by Colorado entrepreneur and philanthropist Tim Gill.

Currently, there are three sites recognized at least in part for their connections to LGBT history: the Stonewall Inn in New York, the Dr. Franklin E. Kameny Residence in Washington D.C., and Fire Island’s Cherry Grove Community House & Theater.