Obama names first national monument to LGBT rights

President Barack Obama announced Friday he was designating the area around the Stonewall Inn in New York City as the country’s first national monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

“This week I’m designating the Stonewall National Monument as the newest addition to America’s national park system,” Obama said in a video released by the White House on Friday.

“I believe our national parks should reflect the full story of our country – the richness and diversity and uniquely American spirit that has always defined us, that we are stronger together. That out of many, we are one,” Obama said.

The White House said the monument would encompass Christopher Park, the Stonewall Inn and the surrounding streets and sidewalks that were the sites of the 1969 Stonewall uprising.

In the early morning of June 28, 1969, a police raid on the Stonewall Inn – a typical occurrence at gay bars in the 1960s – made history when patrons fought back.

After police arrested many Stonewall patrons that morning, people protested outside the bar for weeks afterward, leading to the first march for gay and lesbian rights in July 1969.

Those protests are often credited as a flashpoint for LGBT rights in the United States.

While Obama’s announcement came two days before New York City’s Sunday pride march, which is often celebratory, the attack on the Orlando gay nightclub Pulse that killed 49 people added a somber tone to the announcement.

June is traditionally pride month in many cities around the world, with people turning out for parades and picnics.

While many of those parades have taken on an air of celebration in recent years, both the first parade and the modern gay rights movement can be traced back to the 1969 uprising at the Stonewall Inn.

Stonewall Inn granted NYC landmark status

“The Stonewall uprising, led primarily by people of color and people of transgender experience, was a watershed moment in our nation’s history, sparking what many call the beginning of modern-day LGBT rights movements,” said Wendy Stark, executive director of the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, which primarily serves New York City’s LGBT community.

“The recognition of Stonewall as a national monument is an important step in recognizing our vibrant past and spotlighting the unique contributions LGBT Americans make to the rich fabric of our nation,” she told CNN.

President Barack Obama is likely to name the Stonewall Inn as the first-ever National Park Service monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights in June. Click through the gallery to learn more about the dive bar that became a catalyst for the modern LGBT rights movement.

In the early morning of June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn and attempted to arrest people. This time, the patrons of the Greenwich Village gay bar fought back.

Protesters gathered in the streets outside the Stonewall Inn following the riots on June 28.

There were more protests in July of 1969, followed by the first gay and lesbian march from Washington Square to Stonewall. A 1989 march (shown here) celebrated the 20th anniversary of the riots.

Artist George Segal's "Gay Liberation" sculpture at Christopher Park is located opposite the Stonewall Inn. The work, featuring two standing men and two seated women, was unveiled in 1992.

Members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) held an unsanctioned march up New York's Fifth Avenue in 1994 for the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Over the years, the New York City pride march has continued to celebrate the role of the Stonewall Inn in the LGBT rights movement. The 2009 march marked the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell visited the Stonewall Inn in 2014 to announce a new National Park Service initiative to identify important places and events associated with the LGBT civil rights struggle.

People often gather at the Stonewall Inn to celebrate LGBT rights victories, including the U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing same-sex marriage on June 26, 2015.

The Stonewall Inn was granted historic landmark status by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission in June 2015.

The history of Stonewall Inn

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“In light of the Orlando massacre as well as the daily violence and discrimination our communities still face, it’s never been more important to observe LGBT history in this way,” she said.

Stonewall has remained a gathering place for the LGBT rights movement, attracting celebrations after the Supreme Court ruled for same-sex marriage equality and mourners in the aftermath of the Orlando shooting. Protestors marched from Grand Central Terminal to the Stonewall Inn on Sunday to rally against violence toward the LGBT community.

National Park Service turns 100

The National Park Service, which turns 100 this year, has expanded its efforts to include sites that tell the story of the LGBT community and other diverse U.S. communities, park service director Jonathan Jarvis told CNN in April.

The effort includes a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Heritage Initiative, launched in 2014, to identify places and events associated with the story of LGBTQ Americans for inclusion in the park service.

On Monday, June 27, Jarvis and Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett will join other government officials and LGBT leaders in public dedication ceremony of the new monument.

LGBT Milestones Fast Facts

Nearly two years ago, the National Parks Conservation Association launched a national effort to identify potential sites for an LGBT monument.

“This site is so perfect, and it really is recognized as the birthplace of civil rights for LGBT people,” said Theresa Pierno, the non-profit’s president and CEO. The LGBT movement “really is a struggle for human rights and civil rights, and it’s a story that needs to be told.”

People march into New York's Central Park during the nation's first gay pride parade on June 28, 1970. The event was held on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, when members of the gay community clashed with police who had raided the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan.

The parade was called Christopher Street Liberation Day. The Stonewall Inn is on Christopher Street. The riots at the gay bar and the protests that followed were a turning point for LGBT rights in the United States.

"At one point, I climbed onto the base of a light pole and looked back. I was astonished; we stretched out as far as I could see, thousands of us," one of the marchers, Fred Sargeant, told the Village Voice decades later. "There were no floats, no music, no boys in briefs. The cops turned their backs on us to convey their disdain, but the masses of people kept carrying signs and banners, chanting and waving to surprised onlookers."

A couple kisses after the parade in Central Park.

Several other U.S. cities followed with their own pride parades. Here, people march down Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles on June 29, 1970.

A crowd holds banners as they march in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston in 1970.

People march in the Boston gay pride parade.

The first gay pride parades

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