Trump Tried to Erase LGBTQ+ History. The National Archives Refuse to Let That Happen.

Last year, Donald Trump abruptly fired Dr. Colleen Shogan, the 11th Archivist of the United States, without explanation. This move came at a critical time when the Archivist was responsible for defending the Presidential Records Act and recovering government documents seized by the former president at Mar-a-Lago. The swift dismissal sent a chilling message about the administration’s attitude toward transparency and historical preservation.

But the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) still tell the stories Trump and his allies want erased — especially those of LGBTQ+ Americans. A recent visit to the Archives’ new AI-powered museum exhibit, “The American Story,” revealed that queer history remains part of the official narrative, even if attempts have been made to sanitize it.

The exhibit features Dr. Franklin Kameny, a pioneering gay rights activist who once described himself as a “homosexual militant.” While the Archives’ descriptor for Kameny tones down his militant identity to “Anti-Discrimination Advocate,” his legacy survives in digital kiosks where visitors can explore his historic petition to the Supreme Court challenging his dismissal from the Army Map Service due to his sexuality.

This petition was groundbreaking — the first Supreme Court challenge against the federal government’s gay purges. Kameny’s words still resonate: “In World War II, Petitioner did not hesitate to fight the Germans with bullets... In 1960, it is ironically necessary that he fight the Americans with words... against a tyrannical government.”

Despite the Trump administration’s efforts to purge LGBTQ+ content — including slashing keyword searches and programs tagged “homosexual” — the Archives’ new AI tools allow visitors to personalize their experience and easily access queer history alongside icons like Mark Twain and Henry Kissinger.

This digital transformation is a game-changer for “archive activists” and citizen researchers who no longer need to endure long waits or complicated searches to uncover these vital records. They can now download mini-archives directly to their phones, making queer history more accessible than ever.

The fight to erase LGBTQ+ history is part of a broader assault on marginalized communities and democratic institutions under Trump. Yet the National Archives stand as a bulwark against this erasure, preserving and sharing the stories that define America’s ongoing struggle for equality.

Charles Francis, president of the Mattachine Society of Washington, DC, and author of “Archive Activism,” celebrates this resilience. The inclusion of Kameny and other queer pioneers in the Archives’ official narrative is a small but powerful victory in the face of authoritarian attempts to rewrite history.

The political and verbal attacks on LGBTQ+ Americans continue, but so does the fight — now with AI and archival activism on our side. The National Archives still tell our stories, and that matters now more than ever.