National Park Service reverses Pride ban following LGBTQ+ community backlash

National Park Service rangers will be allowed to attend Pride events in uniform after all after news of a ban went public and sparked major backlash.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced the reversal of the recent NPS directive in a memo Friday evening.

“I want to ensure that every employee has the opportunity to thrive in a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment,” Haaland wrote in the message, which was obtained by Politico Pro.

The reversal came following a wave of media reports on new directives sent from leadership to the park service’s 20,000 employees that aimed to “remind” staffers of an existing policy prohibiting them from participating in public events that could be considered “agency support.”

As reported by Politico, that policy would extend to Pride marches too, marking a seismic shift in NPS’s past enforcement and its support for the LGBTQ+ community.

NPS has a long-standing history of celebrating LGBTQ history. The park service has long permitted uniformed rangers to participate in Pride marches and oversees Pride-related events at many of its parks.

The agency is also in charge of the Stonewall National Monument, commemorating the site of the 1969 uprising that was a watershed moment for LGBTQ civil rights. On June 28 — marking the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall riots — the Historic Stonewall Monument Visitor’s Center will open in New York, a 1,500-square-foot indoor space with a theater and interactive exhibits.

LGBTQ+ leader and the founder of the Philadelphia Gay News Mark Segal curated a series of wall hangings with firsthand accounts of the Stonewall Uprising that will be on display.

News of the new policy directive sparked outrage among the LGBTQ+ community, including from the popular drag queen and environmentalist, Pattie Gonia.

“National Park Service, this is NOT what allyship looks like,” Gonia said on Instagram. “I stand with the queer National Park Service employees.”

» READ MORE: National Park Service rangers are banned from attending Pride marches in uniform, just before Pride Month

In a new statement from Pattie Gonia released Monday, Gonia said she and her team were cautiously optimistic.

“We congratulate queer park service employees on the great lengths that they have gone to secure this reversal,” she said in a statement.

According to Haaland’s memo, local park leadership will now be the ones to determine which external events uniformed rangers will march in or run booths at, including for Pride events.

Gonia says this is a step in the right direction, but believes the updated policy needs safeguards that would allow employees or employee resource groups to appeal potential denials in cases where leadership’s personal views “run counter to policy.”

The reversal and new policy implementation comes days ahead of the start of Pride month.

“This is proof that when queer people fight we win,” Gonia said. “This is proof that it is never too late to do the right thing.”