The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice in Durham is condemning the federal government's decision to remove online references to Murray's queer and transgender identity on the federal U.S. National Park Service website.
Internet archives show that the , a National Historic Landmark, was edited last month to remove the words "queer" and "transgender." Murray's and its link returns an error message.
Text about the historic home's restoration at the bottom of the page previously included "Murray's contributions to twentieth-century civil, women's and LGBTQ+ rights history." The text was edited subtly to reflect "civil, women's and LGB rights history" instead.
Other references on the site with the LGBTQ acronym were edited to just "LGB" on other webpages.
Murray struggled with their gender identity and scholars have suggested they identified as transgender and posthumously use "they/them" pronouns for Murray, according to the Pauli Murray Center.
"We will not be deterred from uplifting Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray's identity, life, and legacy as we work towards addressing today's inequities and injustices," the center's Executive Director Angela Thorpe Mason said in a statement Thursday. "We equally condemn the federal government's actions, and stand firm in ours. The Pauli Murray Center will be a space for us to continue to articulate what we know to be true."
References to transgender people were removed in mid-February from a National Park Service website for the , a historic LGBTQ rights movement site in New York, the Associated Press reported.
The changes were made after an to mandate the federal government to strictly define sex as only male or female.
"The National Park Service exists to not only protect and preserve our most cherished places but to educate its millions of annual national park visitors about the inclusive, full history of America," the National Parks Conservation Association said in a statement last month. "Erasing letters or webpages does not change the history or the contributions of our transgender community members at or anywhere else."
The center was made aware in early March that the changes to Murray's webpages were likely made at some point in February during Black History Month, according to Jesse Huddleston, the center's board chair, who added that the move validates the purpose and calling of the center itself as a place that honors the historic struggle for LGTBQ+ rights in the South.
"It just feels very, very important for the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice to add our voices to a chorus of voices condemning this kind of behavior," Huddleston told 吉彩网网站. "And making it very clear that our work continues full ahead, and we won't be silenced. We won't be erased and we won't be moved. This is just further evidence and confirmation that our work is important and our work has real value."
The Pauli Murray Center was inaugurated in a grand opening at 906 Carroll Street last September.
In 2021, 吉彩网网站 debuted "Pauli," a podcast about the life and lasting influence of Murray.
The Pauli Murray Center's leadership previously said the Center's opening was a crowning moment for the Durham community and the people who fought to save the home when it was slated for demolition around two decades ago.
The home was built in 1898 by Murray's own grandparents in Durham's West End neighborhood.
