Images of gay rights demonstrations at the National Mall will be removed from a video display that has been running at the Lincoln Memorial since 1995, according to a civil service group. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said the National Park Service, under pressure from far-right religious groups, has agreed to alter the eight-minute video containing photos and footage of demonstrations and other events taking place at the Lincoln Memorial. The conservative groups asked that footage of gay rights, pro-choice, and anti-Vietnam War demonstrations be excised because it implies that "Lincoln would have supported homosexual and abortion 'rights' as well as feminism," PEER said. The Park Service said it would develop a "more balanced" version that include rallies of the Christian group Promise Keepers and pro-Gulf War demonstrators, though those events did not take place at the Lincoln Memorial or the National Mall.
History revisionism is a dangerous thing. How can we ever expect to learn from the past if we erase it?
Like it or not, gay rights protests, abortion protests and anti-war protests are part of our nation's history. Why deny it? Why pretend like such things don't exist? Why try to sweep them under the rug? Who, exactly, are we trying to protect?
Perhaps a warning before viewing the video would be more appropriate than deleting the parts that people take offense with. These events happened and they're a part of our history.
My only problem with this article is its failure to mention who, exactly, pressured the government into changing the film. They say that the Park Service succumbed to pressure from "conservative, right wing" groups, but no such groups are named. Is this just an assumption on the Advocate's part or do they really have proof of such pressure? You can't tell from the article.