Pride
As American as the Stonewall Rebellion BY ANDY HUMM While not quite as deep as the Grand Canyon or as tall as the Statue of Liberty, the 7.7 acres in and around the Stonewall Inn, scene of the monumental 1969 multi-night rebellion in the streets that sparked the modern LGBT movement, were declared, like those iconic parks, an official national monument by President Barack Obama on June 24. Three days later, in the light of day on June 27, the area was dedicated as such by federal and local officials and LGBT activists, including a handful who participated in the rebellion. This recognition of an uprising by LGBT outcasts, who were officially criminal, sinful, mentally ill, and almost wholly closeted before that June 28, 1969 night, was an all-American inclusive affair steeped in patriotism. A soulful version of the national anthem was sung by actor Anthony Wayne. Edie Windsor, 87, who won federal recognition of samesex marriage in 2013 at the US Supreme Court, led a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance — leaving out the words “under God,” which is the way she grew up saying it before Congress inserted the deity in 1954 at the behest of the Knights of Columbus. Windsor and her partner and later wife Thea Spyer returned to New York from a vacation the second night of the rebellion and soon became activists themselves. The crowd heard from Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, National Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis, US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and out lesbian Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, West Side Congressmember Jerrold Nadler, who is credited with quarterbacking the designation locally, and Mayor Bill de Blasio. The Village’s out elected local officials –– State Senator Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, and City Councilmember Corey Johnson also delivered remarks. The keynote speech was delivered by Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt, who was an 18-year-old participant in the rebellion and is now a prominent artist, who painted a vivid verbal picture of the Stonewall in 1969 — “a dingy non-descript building that was like a speakeasy, run by the Mafia.” When the police hit the bar with a routine raid that night, “we didn’t fight back because we loved .com
Photo by Donna Aceto
Officials and activists at the Stonewall National Monument dedication included US Representative Carolyn Maloney, successful DOMA plaintiff Edie Windsor, New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Representative Jerrold Nadler, City Councilmember Corey Johnson, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, National Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis, White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, State Senator Brad Hoylman, and Assemblymember Deborah Glick.
the management of Stonewall,” he said, “but because we were humanized in there,” the one bar where slow dancing — “a full embrace” — was allowed. There was much praise for the administration and local government officials who worked with the near unanimous support of both the LGBT and Village communities to get the national monument designation in place, mainly through the city’s transfer to the federal government of little Christopher Park, across the street from the bar. Secretary Jewell said, “It takes a village to make a national park.” She also said, “We want our history to be known and to reflect who we are — the diversity of our people.” Acknowledging the atrocity in Orlando’s Pulse nightclub that was fresh in everyone’s minds, transgender activist Octavia Lewis said, “We have not come far enough. I want this to be a place where I can bring my children and not be fearful.” “We want to tell the American LGBT story to the world,” said Gillibrand, who will continue to work with her congressional colleagues to make it “a national park, not just a monument,” though monuments designated by the president, STONEWALL continued on p. 12
House HOUSE Calls CALLS
Serving manhattan and the entire tri-State area
Same day Service available
TOP $ PAID FOR JUDAICA COLLECTIBLES
ANTIQUES & ESTATE BUYERS We Pay $CASH$ For Paintings, Clocks, Watches, Estate Jewelry & Fine China, From Single Items to Entire Estates!
Military Collections Wanted
Swords, Knives, Helmets, etc.
Top $ Paid for Antique Sterling!
• Coin & Stamp Collections • Costume Jewelry • Antique Furniture • Lamps • Bronzes • Paintings • Prints MOVING • Chinese & Japanese DOWNSIZINor G CALL ? Artwork & Porcelain US! • Sports Collectibles • Comic Books • Old Toys • Records • Cameras • Sterling Flatware Sets
HUMMELS & LLADROS See our ad in the Sunday PoSt
516-974-6528 aSk for chriStoPher
ANTIQUE & ESTATE BUYERS WILL TRAVEL ENTIRE TRI-STATE!
We We buy buy anything anything old. old. One One piece piece or or house house full. full. WILL TRAVEL. HOUSE CALLS. WILL TRAVEL. HOUSE CALLS. Will Travel. We make house Calls.
1029 WesT JeriCho Turnpike, smiThToWn l.i.
FREE Estimates!
June 30 - July 06, 2016
9