Welcome to the Park of the Week Newsletter for June 13, 2024. This week we’re featuring the first US national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights.
Stonewall National Monument
Location
Greenwich Village, New York, United States
Claim to fame
On the evening of June 27, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by police. At the time it was illegal to serve alcohol to homosexuals in New York City, and bars like the Stonewall Inn experienced frequent raids. But on this night, for the first time, the LGBTQ+ community fought back.
Emboldened by the civil rights movements of the 1960s and the leadership of now-iconic activists like Marsha P. Jones, the queer community flocked to the Stonewall Inn to protect those being arrested and protest the unjustness of their oppression.
Reason to visit
In 2016, the Stonewall Inn was declared a national monument by President Barack Obama, making it the first US national park site dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and history. The park oversees 7.7 acres of Greenwich Village, mostly along Christopher Street, which was the site of a week of protests after the riots of June 27, 1969.
The Stonewall Inn is still in operation as a private business, and the national monument maintains Christopher Park, where many LGBTQ+ homeless lived and where the protests broke out that night, across the street from the Stonewall Inn.
Wild Fact
A year after the riots at the Stonewall Inn, protestors met on Christopher Street to commemorate their actions and demonstrate their pride in their community. Public shaming was one of the main avenues of oppression the LGBTQ+ community had long faced, and so the Stonewall protestors reclaimed their dignity by publicly marching together and declaring they were proud to be LGBTQ+.
This was the first LGBTQ+ Pride parade. Similar parades are now conducted around the world, often in June, to celebrate the brave activists of Stonewall and the gift of LGBTQ+ pride they gave the world.
Thanks for reading. Each Thursday, we send out an image and description of a unique natural or cultural treasure like the one above. Learn new things, explore special places, and find your inspiration: sign up for the free newsletter today.