President Obama declared on Friday that the iconic Stonewall Inn gay bar is now a national monument. This is a particularly powerful gesture in the wake of the horrific attack on the gay bar Pulse in Orlando that left 49 people dead and dozens more wounded.

Obama announced that Stonewall Inn and the adjacent Christopher Park will now be indefinitely memorialized.

“I believe our parks should reflect the full story of our country. The richness, diversity and uniquely american spirit that has always defined, that we are stronger together, that out of many we are one,” Obama said in his announcement.

The history of Stonewall’s rise to prominence is symbolic of the broader struggle for equality in the US and around the world.

In 1969, LGBT people were regularly assaulted and abused for expressing themselves. Homosexuality carried a stigma that could derail a person’s life if discovered. And it was illegal to serve a gay person alcohol, one of many such restrictions.

So LGBT people went underground, tried to conceal who they were. Gar bars proliferated to act as safe spaces. But even here, threats and attacks were routine. Raids that landed people in jail and ruined careers were common.

Eventually, this constant harassment become too much to bear and on June 28th, 1969, a bar was raided and became the site of protests that gave rise to a movement culminating in last year’s Supreme Court recognition of a gay person’s right to get married.

That bar was and is called Stonewall Inn  — a name that evokes safety and strength, a fortress from which an attack for freedom could be launched.  

And today, Stonewall Inn is being officially woven into the national tapestry. The news was met with support on Twitter.

TopicsCurrent eventsCitizenshipEqualityLGBT RightsPresident ObamaStonewall InnNational park

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