Saturday, June 25, 2016

President Obama makes the historic Stonewall Inn a national monument.

Courtesy of the New York Daily News: 

President Obama has declared the Stonewall Inn a national monument, making the iconic West Village bar the first national monument of the LGBT rights movement. 

"Stonewall will be our first national monument to tell the story for the struggle for LGBT rights," Obama announced in a video released Friday. 

The President honored the Stonewall patrons who fought back against a police raid on June 28, 1969, igniting the national gay rights movement 47 years ago. 

"They stood up and spoke out. The riots became protests. The protests became a movement. The movement ultimately became an integral part of America," he said.

I remember the first time I heard about Stonewall.

I was in my early 20's working at a car dealership, and my direct supervisor was an out of the closet gay man.

The guy was hysterical, always cracking jokes. Many at his own expense.

But one day while we were talking he got dead serious and started to tell me about his experiences during something called the Stonewall riots. I swear it was almost like hearing a veteran talking about Nam.

By the end of the conversation he was literally shaking with emotion.

I think that was the first time I really understood how much hatred there was toward the LGBT community.

President Obama has a lot to be proud of, many accomplishments under his belt, but what he has done to protect and inspire LGBT folks in this country is completely unprecedented.
 

30 comments:

  1. Anonymous8:55 AM

    When Levi introduced his kid to his girlfriend of 1 month, was this when Bristol objected?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wrong thread, stalker.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:03 AM

      Alicia so sad. :-(

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:52 AM

      Somebody wanna shake the troll? It's stuck again.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:04 PM

      Shut up Meghan. You are so obnoxious. And we know you're a big ugly lesbian.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous12:48 PM

      12:04 - stop cyber bullying Meghan!

      Delete
    6. Anonymous2:24 PM

      Meghan should stop cyberbullying others.

      And Stonewall was no Vietnam for fucks sake. Get a grip on reality.

      Delete
    7. 12:04pm, what an impressive display of maturity.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous9:27 AM

    Wow, wonderful news about Stonewall. I woke up late today and the first thing I read after I turned on my computer was the post here at IM about this new national monument. I'm additionally grateful for what the president did during this time that is not very long since what happened in Orlando. The video's great. Thank you to Gryphen for this.

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  3. Anonymous9:37 AM

    Nobody remembers what happened at Independence Mall in Philadelphia on July 4, 1965, four years before Stonewall. Nobody that is, other than the good folks who were there and those who supported them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous9:56 AM

    And again, my president makes me so proud. I am not part of the LGBT community, but I know something done right when I see it and this is exactly right. I am so impressed how he has 'evolved' so completely in all areas of support for the community and how he has demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt how much he respects and honors those who have fought for their rights as human beings in this country and have done so diligently. Having the president's support like this is priceless.

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  5. Anonymous 9:37 AM wrote: … what happened at Independence Mall in Philadelphia on July 4, 1965, four years before Stonewall.

    http://lgbt50.org/50th-anniversary-celebration-lgbt-civil-rights-movement-independence-hall-july-4-2015

    The LGBT civil rights movement began when activists from New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia protested for equality each Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969 in front of Independence Hall and Liberty Bell. It was the first time that activists from more than one city openly identified as gay and called for equality. The demonstrations, which were called “Annual Reminders,” were spearheaded by Washington’s Frank Kameny and Philadelphia’s Barbara Gittings. Kameny and Gittings are recognized as the father and mother of the LGBT civil rights movement.

    WHYY/PBS and Equality Forum co-produced “Gay Pioneers,” a documentary about the Annual Reminders and how these protests laid the groundwork for Stonewall in 1969. …

    http://www.gaypioneers.com/

    Gay Pioneers is directed by PBS award-winning documentary filmmaker Glenn Holsten and produced by PBS affiliate WHYY and Equality Forum. It is about the gay and lesbian Rosa Parks. Gay Pioneers braids archival footage from these seminal demonstrations; FBI investigative files obtained under the Freedom of Information Act; gay pioneer interviews about the homophobia of that era, the protocol for the demonstrations and how those demonstrations impacted the movement and Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny and Lilli Vincenz on-camera in 2004 discussing same-sex marriage.

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  6. Anonymous10:32 AM

    Thank you, President Obama! You continuing doing such an outstanding job. We are going to miss you!

    Hillary Clinton will follow you well as POTUS!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:54 AM

      Will sooooo miss Pres Obama. That sight of so many people out there in DC to see and listen to him is beautiful ans awe-inspiring. I just now realized that when Hillary makes her speech, Trump is going to be sitting around tweeting something tacky--so pathetic.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous10:51 AM

    Thank you for that, Ted. It's a shame Barbara Gittings died in 2007 just before a lot of the change she worked for started picking up speed and happened. She died in Kennett Square and although she lived a hop skip and a jump from where I live I've never made the "pilgrimage" to see her house. I hope it's been turned into some sort of shrine or something.

    Maybe I'll drive down there one day soon.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous10:51 AM

    I'm in CA and wanted to know what happened before the events that most of us are familiar with. Learned some interesting things. For anyone else interested:


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_history_in_California

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:02 AM

      Here's something else about gun control that is happening in CA & is pretty great: safetyforall.com

      Delete
  9. Anonymous11:05 AM

    I love this! Thanks, Gryph, and President Obama. Planning a trip to this monument now! #stonewall

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous11:09 AM

    O/T - George Will leaves the GOP due to Trump!
    http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/284908-george-will-leaves-gop-this-is-not-my-party

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous11:10 AM

    it is a tremendous act

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  12. Anonymous11:24 AM

    Obama salutes LGBT community courage, discusses Stonewall National Monument in weekly address

    In an amazing salute to the courage and persistance of the LGBT community, President Obama this morning devoted his weekly address to discussing the creation of the newest national monument—the Stonewall Inn.

    He placed the riots of 1969 square in the lineage of historic rebellion that led to the formation of this country, to the winning of voting rights for women, to the birth of the civil rights movement. The president’s remarks constitute a beautiful salute to all that is best in America, at a time when the Orlando killings are still echoing in a grieving nation.

    To read the transcript in full, check below the fold or visit the White House website.

    http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/6/25/1542194/-Obama-salutes-LGBT-community-courage-discusses-Stonewall-National-Monument-in-weekly-address

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous11:29 AM

    Bristol and Dakota go away and get married which allowed Levi quite a bit of time with his son even when a lot of that time he was working. She could've said "we're sticking to the schedule and during my time he can be with my parents or whomever".

    I fail to see why a heavily biased blogger who ignores a lot of Johnston shiftiness is trying to ensure there's never peace between TWO parents who actually can coparent. dakota and sunny don't mater. Half siblings don't affect. That is pretty standard. And lmao at Levi pretending like Bristol understand sibling relationships. Her son has had a best friend brother type all his life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous1:31 PM

      Wrong thread, stupid at 11:29

      Delete
    2. Anita Winecooler4:02 PM

      And that blogger is Bristol/Nancy French, Did Sunny and Dah go to the same college? "sunny and dakotah don't mater" As in "Alma Mater". You DO know Analgesics are taken by mouth, don't you?

      Delete
  14. So very proud to call this great man our leader of the free world.
    Very interesting connection to the Stonewall significance for you, Gryphen.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous12:01 PM

    Exciting news:

    One of America's top-ranked xtians has announced that GOP presidential nominee Donald Drumpf has recently negotiated 'a relationship with Jeebus' which paves the way for an official endorsement from the Son of God.

    Unnamed Drumpf campaign figures have revealed that talks are underway to have Jeebus address the convention tho the timing is uncertain as Drumpf may prefer to be the sole convention speaker because "so many people want to hear (Drumpf) use all the right words".

    Alternative arrangements may provide Jeebus a chance speak at auxiliary off-site events along with sad, former party luminaries and D-list celebs such as The Screechy Wretch(tm), Jordan The Centipede and Joe The Planarium.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anita Winecooler3:44 PM

      Oh my fake lord, this is going to be HUUUUUGE!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:29 PM

      Face it, any person that can put aside critical thinking in order to believe in a god, any of 'em and all of 'em, is just a rube waiting to be grifted.

      :-)

      Delete
  16. Anita Winecooler3:56 PM

    As a card carrying PFLAG member, I truly think President Obama's outdone himself with this declaration. I leaned of Stonewall from someone I went to school with who was three years older than me and happened to be there during one of the raids. They used all the tactics available to shame and hurt people, just because of who they loved. Their faces and names were put in the papers, many lost their livelihoods, but had others not kept fighting back, the entire pro gay movement would never have come to fruition.
    The odd thing was, Studio 54, Plato's Retreat and other dens of iniquity were given a blind eye. Heterosexuals, many married, had orgies out in the open areas of these establishments.
    Thank You, President Obama, for doing this on the heels of the slaughter in Orlando Florida from a domestic terrorist. At least a glimmer of good came of it, and that's a good thing.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous5:35 PM

    http://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2016/06/25/altercation-involving-anti-gay-protesters-mars-anchorage-pridefest/

    I guess Texans visiting our fair city didn't get the message?

    ReplyDelete

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