In February, references to the words 'transgender' and 'queer' were quietly purged from various National Parks Service websites. That includes an audio tour of Boston's Downtown and Beacon Hill neighborhoods titled “Their Dreams, Their Rights, and Their L

Take a walk through Boston's LGBTQ+ history

Darryl C. Murphy

Host

Frannie Monahan

Podcast Producer

The rainbow flag raised outside the Massachusetts State House in Boston in 2023 for Pride Month. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

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In February, references to the words 'transgender' and 'queer' were <a href="https://www.wbur.org/npr/g-s1-48923/stonewall-monument-transgender-park-service">quietly purged from various National Parks Service websites</a>. 

That includes pages dedicated to Boston’s many national parks. 

Among the resources that were taken down from Boston’s National Parks was an audio tour of Downtown and Beacon Hill titled “Their Dreams, Their Rights, and Their Love.”

The tour was meant to show how Boston’s LGBTQ+ community has lived and thrived despite oppression and erasure. The tour still exists on the History Project's website, where it was posted after it was removed from the National Parks Service website. 

To get a sense of what the "<a href="https://www.historyproject.org/their-dreams-their-rights-and-their-love">Their Dreams, Their Rights, and Their Love</a>" tour has to offer, The Common met up with Theo Linger, History Project board member and former National Parks ranger; and Meaghan Michel, History Project volunteer and former National Parks ranger. 

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