A Congressional Push to Commemorate the Stonewall Riots

by Michael Jones · 2009-05-13 17:17:00 UTC
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The three LGBT Representatives in the U.S. House - Rep. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Barney Frank, and Rep. Jared Polis - jointly introduced a Congressional resolution to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the June 1969 event that many credit with launching the modern day LGBT rights movement.

The Stonewall Riots started on June 28, after the New York City Policy Department conducted a raid of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, an LGBT establishment. As a response to the raid, LGBT folks revolted and launched several days worth of riots that shocked the NYPD, and catapulted the civil rights struggles of LGBT Americans into the spotlight.

Joining Reps. Baldwin, Frank and Polis was Rep. Jarold Nadler, a member of the U.S. Congress LGBT Equality Caucus from New York. Here's what Nadler had to say about efforts to have Congress recognize the historical impact and significance of Stonewall:

The events at Stonewall 40 years ago had a profound effect on how LGBT Americans came to see their struggle for equality. Stonewall catalyzed gay Americans – and those who support their rights – into putting gay rights on the forefront, out in the open, unafraid and unapologetic. We have come very far in the battle for LGBT rights and acceptance since Stonewall, but we still have a ways to go. Together, we will keep fighting.

That's pretty powerful stuff, during a very powerful anniversary year that has already seen milestones in the struggle for equal rights (think Iowa, Vermont, Maine and possibly others to come).  President Barack Obama has also been urged to sign a proclamation recognizing the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.  Word has it that Obama may just in fact issue a statement about Stonewall, placing the riots in the broader struggles of the civil rights movement.  That would be a welcome sign from Obama that LGBT rights are on the radar screen of this young administration.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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