WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is designating New York’s Stonewall Inn as a national monument — the first to honor gay rights.
Obama says the Stonewall National Monument will tell the story of the country’s struggle for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. He says he believes that America’s national parks should reflect “the full story of our country” including the diversity that has always defined the U.S.
The tavern in Greenwich Village became the site of an uprising after police raided it in June 1969, triggering what’s widely viewed as the start of the gay rights movement.
The monument will cover 7.7 acres in Manhattan, including the bar, a small park across the street called Christopher Park, and the streets around it where the uprising took place.
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