are has shaped our history. It is in fact these brave individuals who spurred action by the Obama Administration and the National Park Service to tell a more inclusive story of America, lifting up the stories of LGBTQ Americans. In 2014, we committed to do just that when we announced the National Park Service LGBTQ Theme Study, the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

Through a theme study, the initiative was designed to bring together LGBTQ scholars to help identify places and events associated with the story of LGBTQ Americans for inclusion in our national parks and programming. The study is a public-private partnership through the National Park Foundation with funding from the Gill Foundation, which is dedicated to advancing equal treatment for all Americans regardless offirst national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history. Earlier, the Obama Administration recognized The Henry Gerber House in Chicago as a National Historic Landmark and designated eight other LGBTQ sites, including the District’s The Furies Collective House, to the National Register of Historic Places.

The heritage initiative lays the groundwork for further recognition. It’s engaging scholars, preservationists and community members to identify, research and tell the stories of LGBTQ-associated properties. It encourages national parks, national heritage areas and other affiliated areas to interpret LGBTQ stories associated with them while making it possible for these places to qualify as national historic landmarks or be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The theme study discusses the archival and architectural preservation of LGBTQ history. It locates specific places that represent