Historical Erasure: The Hidden Fight for LGBTQ+ Recognition in American History

The article examines contemporary efforts to erase or rewrite American history through the lens of ideological conflict. It highlights recent actions by the Trump administration to purge “diversity, equity, and inclusion” content from Department of Defense websites, including the potential deletion of historical photographs of the Enola Gay B-29 aircraft that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

Further examples include Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s review of U.S. Navy vessels named after civil rights leaders such as César Chávez and Harriet Tubman, and his directive to rename a ship honoring Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, assassinated in 1978, who also served as a Navy lieutenant.

The article situates these actions within a broader pattern of what it calls “theatrical patriotism and politicized information,” in which significant aspects of American history are systematically erased through ideological warfare. It connects these developments to the author’s book, American Scare: Florida’s Hidden Cold War on Black and Queer Lives, which examines the consequences of the Red Scare in segregated Florida.

One particularly revealing historical case is that of William James Neal, a gay Black Korean War veteran who, in 1961, successfully sued the state of Florida after being fired from his junior college teaching position because of his sexuality. Neal’s case was groundbreaking, but his victory was secured in part by concealing his race from the courts—a stark illustration of the intersecting discriminations and the strategic navigation required by marginalized individuals to pursue justice.

Together, these examples underscore a troubling trend: historical facts are becoming casualties in contemporary culture wars, with narratives involving marginalized communities especially vulnerable. The article frames the present moment as a continuation of a long-standing pattern in which inconvenient truths about American history are systematically removed from public consciousness.