NEW YORK – Vice President Kamala Harris visited the Stonewall Inn National Monument on Monday to honor activists at the site of a watershed moment in the gay rights movement. And she spoke as state lawmakers across the United States introduced or passed hundreds of bills this year that curtail LGBTQ+ rights.
This tally includes a recent flurry of bills that affect transgender people, including legislation recently passed by Republican governors vying for the 2024 presidential nomination.
The vice president’s surprise visit to New York’s Stonewall comes days before the 54th anniversary of the police raid and rebellion it sparked on June 28, 1969, as bosses and others fought against officers and against a social order that has kept gay life in the shadows. The uprising is widely considered one of the most pivotal moments in the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.
Harris, in brief remarks, paid tribute to the “courage, determination and inspiration” of Stonewall activists, but also said the spot was an important reminder that the community’s fight for rights does not is not over.
Former President Barack Obama created the Stonewall National Monument in 2016. It is the first American national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights.
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