Stonewall: A bar's path from illicit dive to LGBTQ landmark
NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty years ago, the Stonewall Inn was an underground gay bar where a police raid sparked a rebellion that fueled the modern LGBTQ rights movement.
Today, it's still a bar, but a highly visible one. It's a landmark, and the patrons flocking in this week to honor the riots' legacy include a gay police officers' group.
The tavern in Manhattan's Greenwich Village has undergone physical and ownership changes over the years. At points, it wasn't a bar at all.
But as the rebellion's anniversary approaches Friday, the Stonewall Inn stands in part of its original space and serves as a gathering place and beacon for the LGBTQ community and others.
"We understand we're the innkeepers of history," says co-owner Stacy Lentz.
In 1969, the Stonewall was part of a Greenwich Village gay scene that was known, yet not open. At the time, showing same-sex affection or dressing in a way deemed gender-inappropriate could get people arrested, and bars had lost liquor licenses for serving such people. Some gay nightspots simply operated illegally.
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