Thursday, June 27, 2024 3:18PMIt was half of the Stonewall Inn, the gay dive bar where a 1969 police raid became a landmark moment for the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
"Today, if you look around the world, there are millions of people who are celebrating Pride. And it all started in this building," visitor center senior adviser Mark Segal said recently while showing it to guests. "When people think of the National Park Service, they don't usually think 'queer and urban,'" said visitor center co-founder Diana Rodriguez. "So we're a very different type of visitor center."
Police often raided gay bars. Patrons usually left quietly, rather than risk an arrest that could expose their sexual orientation and cost them jobs and family relationships. The officers then retreated and barricaded themselves inside the bar. Some in the throng outside tried to break in. Riot police showed up to clear the demonstrators away, but they kept regrouping and returning until about 4:30 a.m.LGBTQ+ Americans had sometimes demonstrated and even fought with police before.