WH Hints Obama Soon Will Designate Nat'l Monument Honoring Stonewall Riots

By Susan Jones | June 1, 2016 | 7:13am EDT
In this May 9, 2016 photo, visitors gather outside the Stonewall Inn, the iconic symbol of the modern gay rights movement in Greenwich Village, New York. The area surrounding the Stonewall Inn, the site of a 1969 uprising widely viewed as the start of the fight for LGBT rights, is set to become a national monument. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

(CNSNews.com) - By proclamation of President Barack Obama, June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.

At the White House on Tuesday, spokesman Josh Ernest said he's "unaware" if Obama will mark the occassion by marching in a gay pride parade, but Earnest did hint that Obama may designate a bar in Greenwich Village, New York as a national monument.

A reporter noted that the Obama administration has conducted "listening sessions" on on designating a national monument in honor of the 1969 Stonewall riots, which began with a police raid and gave rise to the "gay rights" movement.

"There's media speculation that that was going to be announced in time for June of this year," the reporter said. "When will the president pull the trigger on that?"

"I don't have any updates on any potential presidential designations," Earnest replied. "But we'll obviously keep you posted on any development that might be of interest to you. I suspect that might be one of them."

The reporter followed up: "A number of cities are hosting Pride celebrations and parades, including D.C., which is hosting its parade on June 11th. Would you rule out the possibility that President Obama this month would participate in an LGBT Pride parade?"

"I'm not aware that that's on the president's schedule," Earnest said.

Earnest refused to speculate on President Obama's LGBT "legacy."

"Obviously as a general matter, the president is enormously proud of the progress that our country has made over the last seven or eight years in becoming a more accepting society for LGBT Americans. The president has long been a champion of equality and justice. And certainly we have seen that equality for LGBT Americans grow in the last seven or eight years.

"What the president's legacy is, though, is something that historians will have to determine."



In his May 31 proclamation designating June as LGBT Pride Month, Obama said, "I call upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people."


Also See:

Interior Secretary Laments: Still No Nat'l Park or Monument Marking 'Struggle for LGBT Rights'
Lawmakers: Make Stonewall Inn a National Park
Rev. Graham: Obama To Honor Gay Bar, 'A Monument to Sin?'

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