Stonewall Inn

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The Stonewall Inn at 53 Christopher Street is not merely a bar — it is a monument, in both the emotional and the official legal sense. On 28 June 1969, police raided this bar and its patrons fought back, an act of resistance that catalysed the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement and eventually produced the Pride marches, the legal protections, and the cultural visibility that LGBTQ+ people now have across the Western world. In 2016, President Obama designated the Stonewall Inn and the surrounding area as the first US National Monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights — the first of its kind in American history. The bar itself has been through several incarnations since 1969. The current space is a smallish two-room venue: a front bar and a larger back room with a dance floor that runs drag shows and DJ nights most evenings. It is not the biggest or the most elaborately equipped bar in New York. What it is, is irreplaceable. The photographs and archive materials on the walls tell the story of what happened here and what grew from it. The exterior landmark plaques mark it as a point on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors come from around the world specifically to stand on this pavement, and rightly so. Regular events include drag shows, themed dance nights, and community fundraisers. The bar is busy every night of the week; on Pride weekend in June it becomes the gravitational centre of the entire city.