He paid tribute to “Obama’s leadership” in recognizing the struggles and achievements of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.Ī statement from the White House on Friday included a prominent reminder that Obama had paid tribute to the gay rights movement alongside the fight for women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement for racial equality, when he mentioned Stonewall during his inaugural address in 2013. “The Stonewall National Monument will pay tribute to the brave individuals who stood up to oppression and helped ignite a fire in a movement to end unfair and unjust discrimination against LGBTQ people,” said Chad Griffin, the HRC president. Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a leading national pressure group for gay equality, said that the announcement of the new national monument was “especially significant” in the aftermath of the Orlando tragedy. New York, San Francisco, Houston and many other cities are holding their pride parades this weekend and security has been tightened amid threats and fear in the aftermath of the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub on Latin night in Orlando in the early hours of Sunday 12 June. When days later a spontaneous protest march began outside the bar and went all the way to Central Park while many onlookers shouted slurs, the modern pride march was born. The statement recounted the events of the early hours of 28 June 1969, when a handful of openly gay patrons fought back against an especially aggressive raid on the bar by the police.
“It played a key role in the events often referred to as the Stonewall Uprising or Rebellion,” he added. A man lights candles on a memorial outside the Stonewall Inn for victims of the Orlando shooting.