The Stonewall Inn Riots and the First Gay Pride Parade

The Stonewall Inn, in New York City, was a place where gay men and women congregated to talk, to dance, and to be themselves. When the police found out, they started raids on the Inn. The police would arrest a few people and everyone else would be forced to leave. On June 28th 1969, the police attempted a raid but this time the crowd did not leave. They were fed up with this unfair treatment and stood their ground. This historical event is known as the Stonewall riots.

A year later, the LGBTQ community organized marches in New York, Chicago, and San Fransisco to commemorate that night and to bring attention to gay rights—including the right to marry. Now every year all over the world, usually at the end of June, there are Pride parades to celebrate LGBTQ rights and their choice to be who they are and love who they love.

Christopher Park is across from the Stonewall Inn and has been at the center of the LGBTQ rights movement since the historic uprising. George Segal was commissioned to create a sculpture commemorating the Stonewall uprising in 1979, the tenth anniversary of the event. The sculpture consists of two pairs of life-size individuals, which are made of bronze and painted white, depicting a standing couple and a seated couple.