Stonewall Inn, gay rights icon, gets official New York landmark status

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/23/stonewall-inn-new-york-landmark-lgbt

Version 0 of 1.

The Stonewall Inn, the bar in New York’s Greenwich Village widely considered to be the birthplace of the gay rights movement, was designated as a city landmark on Tuesday.

Following a public hearing on Tuesday morning, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the bar an individual landmark. Under this designation, the Stonewall Inn is guaranteed preservation and protection as a site of historical significance.

“It’s great to know this iconic site is recognized and protected,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, which has worked since 2014 to have the Stonewall Inn designated.

The bar was the site of the Stonewall riots, a series of demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against a police raid that took place on the establishment in June 1969. The uprising inspired a new phase in the gay liberation movement, and several organizations formed nationally and internationally to promote and support LGBT civil rights – including the British gay rights lobby group Stonewall.

Martin Boyce, a “Stonewall veteran”, spoke before the commission and more than 50 supporters who attended the hearing about the importance of preserving the bar as a landmark for future generations. Boyce said when he was younger resources for LGBT history and literature were scarce.

“We were sneaking around for information,” he told the Guardian. He found a community within the Stonewall Inn, and participated in the riots, he said.

To Boyce, now 67, the Stonewall Inn is a monument, and he said the LGBT community had few official historical monuments. “Let’s give our youths something,” he said to the commission. “We have nothing.”

When asked about the riots, Boyce said: “It was brutal, but necessary. I’m glad I lived to see this. This is what we fought for, and we won our battle.”

Boyce and Berman were two of more than 20 representatives, activists and community leaders who spoke in support of designating the Stonewall Inn a landmark. Many referenced Barack Obama’s second inaugural address, in which the president mentioned the Stonewall riots and placed gay rights within the context of the wider civil rights movement.

Several also called upon the commission to recognize numerous other sites in New York connected to LGBT civil rights. These sites have been submitted to the commission for consideration, and include Julius Bar, the LGBT community center and the former Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse.

Recounting the bar’s significant history, city council member Corey Johnson said: “History has also shown a lot happened outside the Stonewall … I think it’s important for us to give recognition to that as well, not just the inside of the bar. There are other sites that we need you as a commission to landmark.”

Meenakshi Srinivasan, commission chair, said the other sites submitted for consideration are “on our radar”, and that the commission is considering them for designation.

“It was very moving,” Srinivasan said of the wave of people who spoke at the hearing. “I’m pleased with the support.”

The Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park, a small park in front of the bar, might also be included as a unit of the National Park Service.

The National Park Conservation Association, an advocacy group that works on behalf of the National Park Service, is hosting a meeting on Tuesday night at the LGBT Community Center to discuss the possible inclusion.