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Obama Eyes Declaring Stonewall Inn a National Monument, Report Says

By Valeria Ricciulli | May 4, 2016 1:51pm
 President Obama is preparing to declare the Stonewall Inn the first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights.
President Obama is preparing to declare the Stonewall Inn the first national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights.
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Flickr/National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA)

MANHATTAN — Almost a year after New York City declared the Stonewall Inn a local landmark, the Obama administration is taking steps to make the historic bar the first national monument dedicated to any LGBTQ community, the Washington Post reported.

Several federal and local officials along with the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), launched a campaign in September for President Barack Obama to declare the bar, which is generally understood to be the birthplace of the gay rights movement, to be a national monument to honor the LGBTQ equal rights movement.

“Victories like the repeal of 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,' the passage of marriage equality in New York State and the final, decisive Supreme Court ruling securing our freedom to marry, were borne from the modern equal rights movement launched at Stonewall," said U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand at the campaign's launch last year. "It’s time for a national monument honoring the legacy of people and events that took place here.”

Federal officials, including Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, will hold a "listening session" to get feedback on the proposal next week, according to the Post.

The Stonewall Inn has represented the LGBTQ rights movement since police raided the site in the summer of 1969, which sparked local and nationwide protests for equality.