September 21, 2015
Lawmakers: Make Stonewall Inn a National Park
Verena Dobnik READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Two New York legislators are leading a campaign to designate Stonewall Inn as the first national park honoring LGBT history.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler made their announcement Sunday in front of the Greenwich Village tavern that was the scene of a 1969 uprising at a key moment for the nascent gay rights movement.
The two Democrats were joined by other elected officials and members of the National Parks Conservation Association.
National parks can only be created by an act of Congress. They include sites of cultural or historic importance.
Gillibrand says she and Nadler are first asking President Barack Obama to declare Stonewall a monument. A congressional vote on park status would come later.
Stonewall would be the first park representing the LGBT community.
