The New York bar known as the birthplace of the gay pride movement could become the country’s first national monument honoring LGBT rights under a plan to be considered by President Barack Obama.
The Stonewall Inn in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village was the site of a 1969 police raid that touched off riots and ignited a long struggle to bring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people into the mainstream and guarantee their rights.
A year after the Stonewall riots, activists staged the country’s first gay rights parade. The event has evolved into LGBT Pride Month, which begins Wednesday, with parades and street parties around the world that draw millions of people of every sexual orientation.