Stonewall Inn Granted Landmark Status

More exciting landmark news, via the Associated Press:

New York City’s landmarks commission has voted to grant official status to the Greenwich Village bar where resistance to a police raid sparked the modern gay rights movement. The unanimous vote Tuesday marks the first time a site has been designated as a landmark in the city because of its significance to LGBT history. Patrons fought back against a police raid on the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969. The uprising is commemorated in gay pride events every year in New York and around the world. The commission’s chairwoman, Meenakshi Srinivasan, says the Stonewall events were a turning point in the LGBT rights movement and in the nation’s history.

Perfect timing in the days leading up to the city's LGBT pride celebration!

Chicago's Henry Gerber House Designated a National Historic Landmark

Great news from the Windy City.

The U.S. Department of Interior writes:

In recognition of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LBGT) Pride Month, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced that the Henry Gerber House in Chicago, Illinois, has been designated a National Historic Landmark, becoming the nation’s second LGBT related property to achieve such recognition. Once the residence of noted gay rights activist Henry Gerber, the home was where the nation’s first chartered LGBT rights organization, the Society for Human Rights, was formed in 1924. 

“The National Park Service is America’s storyteller, and it is important that we tell a complete story of the people and events responsible for building this great nation,” said Secretary Jewell. “As we honor the pioneering work of Henry Gerber and the pivotal role this home played in expanding and fighting for equality for all Americans, we help ensure that the quest for LGBT civil rights will be told and remembered for generations to come.” In a continuing effort to chronicle the history of the gay rights movement, 

Secretary Jewell joined local leaders at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in May 2014 to announce that the National Park Service was launching an LGBT initiative to help better tell the story of all Americans. The initiative includes a theme study to be released in 2016, part of the National Park Service tradition to document and interpret civil rights history.

Keep reading about this momentous news HERE.