President Barack Obama on Friday officially declared the Stonewall Inn, considered the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement, a national monument as Pride Weekend kicked off here in the city. Michael Scotto filed the following report.



The signs on the gates to Christopher Park went up Friday, declaring the tiny plaza, the Stonewall Inn across the street and this neighborhood a national monument, the first dedicated to lesbian and gay rights.



"We've been around forever. It's about time we're recognized," said one person in the community.

President Barack Obama made the announcement in a video, explaining how in 1969, gays and lesbians at the Stonewall stood up to a police raid that spilled into the park and launched a movement that has been going on ever since.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler spent two years lobbying for Friday's designation.



"It's a great victory to commemorate all this," Nadler said. "We made so much progress, and this has been a center of it."

There was a celebration on these streets when the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, and a vigil when 49 people were shot dead in an Orlando gay club.

The monument, which covers 7.7 acres, will center on this park, which was transferred from the city to the federal government.



The National Park Foundation says it is now working to raise money to bring in personnel from the National Park Service and to set up a temporary ranger station. A visitor center in the area also is envisioned.

The Stonewall Inn will remain privately owned. Its owners expect the new designation will only increase its already high profile.



"We've always kind of been that iconic, LGBT, gay rights bar all around the world, and now, I think what you're going to see is, with the monument and people even coming to see that and this whole area, I think that it's going to have a significant increase to our business," said Stacy Lentz, owner of The Stonewall Inn.

The bar's longstanding designation as a city and national landmark means it can't be altered or destroyed. But even though it is now a monument, there's nothing stopping future owners from turning it into something else. That seems unlikely.



"We'd have another Stonewall riot if something were to occur, quite honestly," Lentz said.

