LGBT Protest Site Becomes National Monument

July 2nd, 2016

Awake Goy

Stonewall Inn now a national monument

President Obama has designated the historic Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, as a national monument. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo made the Stonewall Inn a New York City (NYC) landmark in June 2015, but it is the country’s first national monument to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) history.

It is significant that the designation occurred in June, because June is traditionally Gay Pride Month, during which people celebrate with parades and picnics. It is also near the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriages. Additionally, the designation was announced just a few days before NYC had its annual gay pride parade.

The LGBT community and its advocates consider the Stonewall Inn (often shortened to Stonewall) to be very appropriate for a national monument since both the first gay pride/gay rights parade and the modern gay rights movement can be traced back to the Stonewall.

In 1969, the Stonewall was serving alcoholic beverages to gay people – an illegal activity at that time. This led to an early morning police raid on June 28, and a history-making event occurred when the patrons fought back against police harassment. The arrests had attracted a crowd. A handcuffed lesbian fought with police and when she complained that the handcuffs were too tight, she was hit in the head with a club, then picked up and thrown in the back of the police wagon. A riot ensued.

Many patrons of the bar and some of the rioters were arrested that morning; for several weeks following, people protested outside the bar. These protests included violent confrontations with the police. From these riots, the fight for LGBT rights was launched. The first march for gay and lesbian rights occurred in NYC in July 1969.

The Stonewall National Monument covers a 7.7 acre space in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of NYC and includes the Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park – a small park just across from the Stonewall Inn – and the streets and sidewalks that were the location of the 1969 Stonewall riots.