Abstract
Statement of Problem
The National Register of Historic Places is the means through which the federal government identifies properties of national historic significance. As of October 2008, the National Register contains 83,889 listings, only one of which officially represents gay and lesbian history, the Stonewall Inn National Historic Landmark, the site of the Stonewall Riots June 27 -29, 1969. By neglecting to integrate gay and lesbian history into the public landscape, the federal government implies the history of gays and lesbians is unworthy of recognition. This thesis contributes to the documentation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) history on the public landscape by focusing on memorialization of two transformative moments in history, the Stonewall Riots, a protest against police harassment of gay bars and homosexual oppression in society, and the onslaught of AIDS, which devastated the gay community while an unresponsive government failed to act. Although the federal government has largely excluded GLBT communities from the mainstream, public commemorative process, this thesis will show that GLBT communities have long nurtured their own history through grassroots efforts by analyzing the forms and practices of remembering in GLBT communities.