Stonewall = Footprints in LGBT History

by Michael Jones · 2009-06-25 09:30:00 UTC
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Stonewall InnSomeone once said that the AARP (American Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons) is the second largest organization in the entire United States, just behind the Roman Catholic Church.  Thankfully, the AARP is much more sympathetic to equal rights than the (institutional) Church :)  Case in point, the AARP has launched a very cool multimedia site to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Stonewall, which the organization refers to as an event that placed "footprints in gay history."

Though LGBT people have been around since the dawn of time, there's an interesting phenomenon right now with the first generation to come out of the closet entering their senior years.  Given that huge population, it's great that organizations like the AARP (and Service Advocates for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Elders - known as SAGE) are taking a leadership role in honoring veterans of the LGBT rights movement, but also recognizing the unique circumstances faced by LGBT seniors that are quite different from straight elders.

The AARP site honoring Stonewall features some very cool items.  There's an interview with tennis champ Martina Navratilova, a timeline of LGBT historical events since the AARP's founding in 1958, and an AARP TV broadcast (which you can view below) that tours the neighborhood around the Stonewall Inn, and interviews some leaders of the LGBT rights movement as well as some veterans of the June 1969 riots in Greenwich Village.

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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