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Obama To Name Stonewall First National LGBT Rights Monument

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The designation would come just in time for New York City’s June LGBT pride celebrations.

President Obama is expected to sign a proposal which will designate New York City’s historic Stonewall Inn as the nation’s first LGBT national momument, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Stonewall first became known as the birthplace of the LGBT rights movement following a series of riots which took place on June 28, 1969, during a routine police raid targeting LGBT clientele that frequented the space.

The Inn’s original location was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000 and a New York City Landmark in 2015. The current national monument proposal includes designation for a small triangle of public land near the historic inn called Christopher Park, as well as street area surrounding the bar, according to the wire service.

In order for Stonewall and the surrounding area to become a national monument, the land in New York City’s Greenwich Village must be transferred to the federal government. Though the Obama administration has not yet made public comments on the matter, the wire service reports “the president is expected to move quickly to greenlight the monument following a public meeting Monday in Manhattan, according to two individuals familiar with the administration’s plans.”

The original Stonewall Inn was located at 51 Christopher Street. It closed shortly after the riots of the ’60s, but a gay bar re-opened in 1990 in the former location as an LGBT establishment called The Stonewall Inn.

During his inaugural address in 2013, Obama alluded to Stonewall, along with other national struggles for civil rights, saying: “We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths –- that all of us are created equal –- is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall.” This is believed to be the first time a president referenced the LGBT rights movement during an inauguration speech.

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