Stonewall Inn, gay rights icon, gets official New York landmark status

Source: The Guardian

The Stonewall Inn, the bar in New York’s Greenwich Village widely considered to be the birthplace of the gay rights movement, was designated as a city landmark on Tuesday.

Following a public hearing on Tuesday morning, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the bar an individual landmark. Under this designation, the Stonewall Inn is guaranteed preservation and protection as a site of historical significance.

“It’s great to know this iconic site is recognized and protected,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, which has worked since 2014 to have the Stonewall Inn designated.

The bar was the site of the Stonewall riots, a series of demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against a police raid that took place on the establishment in June 1969. The uprising inspired a new phase in the gay liberation movement, and several organizations formed nationally and internationally to promote and support LGBT civil rights – including the British gay rights lobby group Stonewall.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/23/stonewall-inn-new-york-landmark-lgbt