The Stonewall Inn and the adjoining storefront to its right now enjoy landmark status. (Photo by Andy Humm via Gay City News)
On June 26, the Supreme Court of the United States made history by voting 5-4 that same-sex marriage is legal. Among the sites where people immediately gathered to start celebrating were in front of the Stonewall Inn and at Christopher Park across from the bar, in the heart of Greenwich Village. In 1969, police raids of Stonewall Inn and other bars known to welcome members of the LGBT community prompted protests over several days. The protests helped to spark the gay rights movement.
Last week Stonewall Inn was given landmark status, and now Christopher Park may become a national park, Andy Humm reports in Gay City News. A campaign to make that happen is underway, spearheaded by the National Parks Conservation Association, a private advocacy group for parks. The group hosted a forum June 23 at the LGBT Community Center in the Village, and the proposal will come before Manhattan Community Board 2’s parks committee July 1 and the full board on July 23.
George Segal’s “Gay Liberation” sculpture in Christopher Park. (Photo via Gay City News)
Cortney Worrall, senior regional director of the NPCA, who led the meeting, said she hopes the park will convey “the power of the Stonewall story and the transformation of Greenwich Village to what it is now.” She is also hoping for a big show of support at the Community Board 2 hearing on July 1.
Ken Lustbader, a veteran gay preservation advocate, said the Stonewall park would be part of “site-based history,” like Seneca Falls for the women’s movement and Selma for the Civil Rights movement. All three locations were famously cited in Obama’s second Inaugural Address.
Once local support is lined up, the National Park Service needs to act on the proposal. Read Gay City News to learn why advocates believe there is some urgency to moving on the idea.