81_FR_42340 81 FR 42215 - Establishment of the Stonewall National Monument

81 FR 42215 - Establishment of the Stonewall National Monument

Executive Office of the President

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 125 (June 29, 2016)

Page Range42215-42220
FR Document2016-15536

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 125 (Wednesday, June 29, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 125 (Wednesday, June 29, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 42215-42220]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-15536]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 29, 2016 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 42215]]

                Proclamation 9465 of June 24, 2016

                
Establishment of the Stonewall National Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Christopher Park, a historic community park located 
                immediately across the street from the Stonewall Inn in 
                the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City 
                (City), is a place for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and 
                transgender (LGBT) community to assemble for marches 
                and parades, expressions of grief and anger, and 
                celebrations of victory and joy. It played a key role 
                in the events often referred to as the Stonewall 
                Uprising or Rebellion, and has served as an important 
                site for the LGBT community both before and after those 
                events.

                As one of the only public open spaces serving Greenwich 
                Village west of 6th Avenue, Christopher Park has long 
                been central to the life of the neighborhood and to its 
                identity as an LGBT-friendly community. The park was 
                created after a large fire in 1835 devastated an 
                overcrowded tenement on the site. Neighborhood 
                residents persuaded the City to condemn the 
                approximately 0.12-acre triangle for public open space 
                in 1837. By the 1960s, Christopher Park had become a 
                popular destination for LGBT youth, many of whom had 
                run away from or been kicked out of their homes. These 
                youth and others who had been similarly oppressed felt 
                they had little to lose when the community clashed with 
                the police during the Stonewall Uprising.

                In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, a riot 
                broke out in response to a police raid on the Stonewall 
                Inn, at the time one of the City's best known LGBT 
                bars. Over the course of the next several days, more 
                demonstrations and riots occurred in the surrounding 
                neighborhood including Christopher Park. During these 
                days, because of its strategic location across from the 
                bar, Christopher Park served as a gathering place, 
                refuge, and platform for the community to voice its 
                demand for LGBT civil rights. The Stonewall Uprising is 
                considered by many to be the catalyst that launched the 
                modern LGBT civil rights movement. From this place and 
                time, building on the work of many before, the Nation 
                started the march--not yet finished--toward securing 
                equality and respect for LGBT people.

                Christopher Park and its environs have remained a key 
                gathering place for the LGBT community. For example, on 
                June 26, 2015, within moments of the issuance of the 
                Supreme Court's historic ruling in Obergefell v. 
                Hodges, LGBT people headed to Christopher Park to 
                celebrate the Court's recognition of a constitutional 
                right to same-sex marriage. A few days later, Governor 
                Cuomo continued that celebration by officiating at the 
                marriage of two gay men directly outside the Stonewall 
                Inn. Within minutes of the recent news of the murders 
                of 49 people in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida--one of 
                the most deadly shootings in American history--LGBT 
                people and their supporters in New York headed again to 
                Christopher Park to mourn, heal, and stand together in 
                unity for the fundamental values of equality and 
                dignity that define us as a country.

                Today, Christopher Park is surrounded by brick 
                sidewalks and a nineteenth century wrought-iron fence 
                with gated openings. Educational signs about the 
                Stonewall Uprising are found near the large arched main 
                entryway. Divided into two halves, the western side of 
                the park is open to the public

[[Page 42216]]

                on a daily basis and contains a small plaza lined with 
                brick pavers and benches. George Segal's sculpture, 
                ``Gay Liberation,'' stands as a focal point of the 
                plaza. The sculpture was commissioned in 1979 on the 
                tenth anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, and its 
                installation in 1992 cemented Christopher Park's role 
                as a destination for those wishing to understand the 
                significance of the Stonewall Uprising. The eastern 
                half of the park contains two structures erected in 
                1936: a statue of Civil War General Philip Sheridan, 
                and a memorial flagstaff and plaque honoring Colonel 
                Ephraim Elmer Ellsworth, an officer with the New York 
                Fire Zouaves during the Civil War.

                Across the street from Christopher Park is the target 
                of the June 28, 1969, police raid, the Stonewall Inn 
                (51-53 Christopher Street), originally built in 1843 
                and 1846 as two separate two-story horse stables. In 
                1930, the two buildings were combined into one 
                commercial space with a new single exterior facade. In 
                1934, the first-floor space opened as a restaurant 
                called Bonnie's Stonewall Inn, which served the 
                neighborhood for over 30 years. The restaurant closed 
                in 1966, but was reopened in 1967 as an LGBT bar called 
                the Stonewall Inn.

                The streets and sidewalks in the neighborhood 
                surrounding Christopher Park and the Stonewall Inn are 
                an integral part of the neighborhood's historic 
                character and played a significant role in the 
                Stonewall Uprising. The narrow streets bend, wrap back 
                on themselves, and otherwise create directional havoc. 
                In the early 1800s, the residents rejected the City's 
                attempts to enlarge the neighborhood streets and align 
                them with the City's grid plan, and the extension of 
                Seventh Avenue South through the area in the early 
                1900s only added confusion. During the Stonewall 
                Uprising, this labyrinthine street pattern helped the 
                LGBT demonstrators, who knew the neighborhood, to evade 
                riot-control police, who were not from the local 
                precinct.

                Viewed from Christopher Park's central location, this 
                historic landscape--the park itself, the Stonewall Inn, 
                the streets and sidewalks of the surrounding 
                neighborhood--reveals the story of the Stonewall 
                Uprising, a watershed moment for LGBT civil rights and 
                a transformative event in the Nation's civil rights 
                movement on par with the 1848 Women's Rights Convention 
                at Seneca Falls and the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March 
                for voting rights in its role in energizing a broader 
                community to demand equal rights.

                Although the 1960s were a time of social and political 
                change that brought greater freedom to many segments of 
                society, these new-found freedoms did not extend to 
                members of the LGBT community. They faced increased 
                oppression and criminal prosecution even for being 
                physically intimate with consensual partners. In New 
                York City, LGBT people were frequently arrested for 
                acts such as same-sex dancing and kissing and wearing 
                clothes of the perceived opposite gender. In some 
                States, adults of the same sex caught having consensual 
                sex in their own home could receive sentences of up to 
                life in prison or be confined to a mental institution, 
                where they faced horrific procedures, such as shock 
                therapy, castration, and lobotomies. LGBT Americans 
                lived their lives in secrecy for fear of losing their 
                jobs, being evicted from their homes, or being 
                arrested. For LGBT people of color or living in 
                poverty, life was especially challenging.

                For over a century, Greenwich Village has attracted 
                Americans of all kinds with an interest in political 
                activism and nonconformity. By the 1930s, Greenwich 
                Village was home to a significant LGBT community. 
                Despite the aggressive anti-LGBT policies and practices 
                that emerged in the City in the 1950s and 60s, a 
                variety of bars, nightclubs, restaurants, hotels, and 
                private clubs catered to an LGBT clientele. Many 
                establishments lasted only a few months before police 
                raided them and shut them down, a practice that 
                intensified during mayoral election years such as 1969.

                The police frequently raided LGBT bars for illegally 
                selling alcoholic drinks to ``homosexuals.'' LGBT bars 
                operated by organized crime syndicates often paid off 
                members of the police force and in return received tips 
                about when raids were planned. As part of a crackdown 
                on LGBT bars in June 1969, the Public Morals squad of 
                Manhattan's First Police Division raided

[[Page 42217]]

                the Stonewall Inn on June 24, 1969, confiscated its 
                liquor, and arrested its employees. The Stonewall Inn 
                reopened the next day. Having made only minimal impact 
                with this raid, the police decided to plan a surprise 
                raid for the following Friday night or Saturday 
                morning, when the bar would be crowded.

                On June 28, 1969, undercover police officers raided the 
                Stonewall Inn around 1:15 a.m., after one of them 
                witnessed the illegal sale of alcohol. Customers 
                resisted the police by refusing to show identification 
                or go into a bathroom so that a police officer could 
                verify their sex. As police officers began making 
                arrests, the remaining customers gathered outside 
                instead of dispersing as they had in the past. They 
                cheered when friends emerged from the bar under police 
                escort, and they shouted ``Gay Power!'' and ``We Want 
                Freedom!''. As word spread, the gathering grew in size 
                and a riot ultimately ensued. Around 3:00 a.m., the 
                City's riot-control force appeared, and started to push 
                the crowd away from the Stonewall Inn. But the crowd 
                refused to disperse. Groups of demonstrators retreated 
                to nearby streets, only to cut back and regroup near 
                the Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park. The riot 
                finally abated about 4:30 a.m., but during the next 
                week several more protests formed, and in some cases, 
                led to new riots and confrontations with the police.

                The Stonewall Uprising changed the Nation's history. 
                After the Stonewall incident, the LGBT community across 
                the Nation realized its power to join together and 
                demand equality and respect. Within days of the events, 
                Stonewall seemed to galvanize LGBT communities across 
                the country, bringing new supporters and inspiring LGBT 
                activists to organize demonstrations to show support 
                for LGBT rights in several cities. One year later, the 
                number of LGBT organizations in the country had grown 
                from around 50 to at least 1,500, and Pride Marches 
                were held in a number of large cities to commemorate 
                the Stonewall Uprising.

                The quest for LGBT equality after Stonewall evolved 
                from protests and small gatherings into a nationwide 
                movement. Lesbian women, gay men, bisexual and 
                transgender people united to ensure equal rights for 
                all people regardless of their sexual orientation or 
                gender identity. Hard-fought civil rights victories in 
                courtrooms and statehouses across the country set the 
                stage for victories in the Supreme Court that would 
                have seemed unthinkable to those who rose up in 
                Greenwich Village in June 1969. Today, communities, 
                cities, and nations celebrate LGBT Pride Days and 
                Months, and the number of Pride events approaches 
                1,000. The New York City Police Department now has an 
                LGBT Liaison Unit to build positive relations with the 
                LGBT community, and provides the community with expert 
                protection when threats are identified. Most 
                importantly, the Nation's laws and jurisprudence 
                increasingly reflect the equal treatment that the LGBT 
                community deserves. There is important distance yet to 
                travel, but through political engagement and 
                litigation, as well as individual acts of courage and 
                acceptance, this movement has made tremendous progress 
                toward securing equal rights and equal dignity.

                WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code 
                (known as the ``Antiquities Act''), authorizes the 
                President, in the President's discretion, to declare by 
                public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and 
                prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic 
                or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands 
                owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be 
                national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof 
                parcels of land, the limits of which in all cases shall 
                be confined to the smallest area compatible with the 
                proper care and management of the objects to be 
                protected;

                WHEREAS, in 2000, the Secretary of the Interior 
                (Secretary) designated the Stonewall Inn, Christopher 
                Park, and portions of the surrounding neighborhood as a 
                National Historic Landmark for its association with the 
                Stonewall Uprising, a momentous event that inspired a 
                national LGBT civil rights movement;

[[Page 42218]]

                WHEREAS, for the purpose of establishing a national 
                monument to be administered by the National Park 
                Service, the City of New York has donated to the 
                Federal Government fee title to the approximately 0.12-
                acre Christopher Park;

                WHEREAS, the designation of a national monument at the 
                site of the Stonewall Uprising would elevate its 
                message and story to the national stage and ensure that 
                future generations would learn about this turning point 
                that sparked changes in cultural attitudes and national 
                policy towards LGBT people over the ensuing decades;

                WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to preserve and 
                protect Christopher Park and the historic objects 
                associated with it in the Stonewall National Historic 
                Landmark;

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by the authority vested in me 
                by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, 
                hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are 
                situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or 
                controlled by the Federal Government to be the 
                Stonewall National Monument (monument) and, for the 
                purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as a part 
                thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or 
                controlled by the Federal Government within the 
                boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is 
                attached to and forms a part of this proclamation. The 
                reserved Federal lands and interests in lands encompass 
                approximately 0.12 acres. The boundaries described on 
                the accompanying map are confined to the smallest area 
                compatible with the proper care and management of the 
                objects to be protected.

                All Federal lands and interests in lands within the 
                boundaries described on the accompanying map are hereby 
                appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry, 
                location, selection, sale, or other disposition under 
                the public land laws, from location, entry, and patent 
                under the mining laws, and from disposition under all 
                laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing.

                The establishment of the monument is subject to valid 
                existing rights. If the Federal Government acquires any 
                lands or interests in lands not owned or controlled by 
                the Federal Government within the boundaries described 
                on the accompanying map, such lands and interests in 
                lands shall be reserved as a part of the monument, and 
                objects identified above that are situated upon those 
                lands and interests in lands shall be part of the 
                monument, upon acquisition of ownership or control by 
                the Federal Government.

                The Secretary shall manage the monument through the 
                National Park Service, pursuant to applicable legal 
                authorities, consistent with the purposes and 
                provisions of this proclamation. The Secretary shall 
                prepare a management plan, with full public involvement 
                and in coordination with the City, within 3 years of 
                the date of this proclamation. The management plan 
                shall ensure that the monument fulfills the following 
                purposes for the benefit of present and future 
                generations: (1) to preserve and protect the objects of 
                historic interest associated with the monument, and (2) 
                to interpret the monument's objects, resources, and 
                values related to the LGBT civil rights movement. The 
                management plan shall, among other things, set forth 
                the desired relationship of the monument to other 
                related resources, programs, and organizations, both 
                within and outside the National Park System.

                The National Park Service is directed to use applicable 
                authorities to seek to enter into agreements with 
                others, and the New York City Department of Parks and 
                Recreation in particular, to enhance public services 
                and promote management efficiencies.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke 
                any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; 
                however, the monument shall be the dominant 
                reservation.

[[Page 42219]]

                Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not 
                to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature 
                of this monument and not to locate or settle upon any 
                of the lands thereof.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and fortieth.
                
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

Billing code 3295-F6-P


[[Page 42220]]


[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD29JN16.018


[FR Doc. 2016-15536
Filed 6-28-16; 8:45 a.m.]
Billing code 4310-10-C




                                                                                                                                                                             42215

                                             Federal Register                                    Presidential Documents
                                             Vol. 81, No. 125

                                             Wednesday, June 29, 2016



                                             Title 3—                                            Proclamation 9465 of June 24, 2016

                                             The President                                       Establishment of the Stonewall National Monument

                                                                                                 By the President of the United States of America

                                                                                                 A Proclamation
                                                                                                 Christopher Park, a historic community park located immediately across
                                                                                                 the street from the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood
                                                                                                 of New York City (City), is a place for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
                                                                                                 transgender (LGBT) community to assemble for marches and parades, expres-
                                                                                                 sions of grief and anger, and celebrations of victory and joy. It played
                                                                                                 a key role in the events often referred to as the Stonewall Uprising or
                                                                                                 Rebellion, and has served as an important site for the LGBT community
                                                                                                 both before and after those events.
                                                                                                 As one of the only public open spaces serving Greenwich Village west
                                                                                                 of 6th Avenue, Christopher Park has long been central to the life of the
                                                                                                 neighborhood and to its identity as an LGBT-friendly community. The park
                                                                                                 was created after a large fire in 1835 devastated an overcrowded tenement
                                                                                                 on the site. Neighborhood residents persuaded the City to condemn the
                                                                                                 approximately 0.12-acre triangle for public open space in 1837. By the
                                                                                                 1960s, Christopher Park had become a popular destination for LGBT youth,
                                                                                                 many of whom had run away from or been kicked out of their homes.
                                                                                                 These youth and others who had been similarly oppressed felt they had
                                                                                                 little to lose when the community clashed with the police during the Stone-
                                                                                                 wall Uprising.
                                                                                                 In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, a riot broke out in response
                                                                                                 to a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, at the time one of the City’s best
                                                                                                 known LGBT bars. Over the course of the next several days, more demonstra-
                                                                                                 tions and riots occurred in the surrounding neighborhood including Chris-
                                                                                                 topher Park. During these days, because of its strategic location across from
                                                                                                 the bar, Christopher Park served as a gathering place, refuge, and platform
                                                                                                 for the community to voice its demand for LGBT civil rights. The Stonewall
                                                                                                 Uprising is considered by many to be the catalyst that launched the modern
                                                                                                 LGBT civil rights movement. From this place and time, building on the
                                                                                                 work of many before, the Nation started the march—not yet finished—
                                                                                                 toward securing equality and respect for LGBT people.
                                                                                                 Christopher Park and its environs have remained a key gathering place
                                                                                                 for the LGBT community. For example, on June 26, 2015, within moments
                                                                                                 of the issuance of the Supreme Court’s historic ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges,
                                                                                                 LGBT people headed to Christopher Park to celebrate the Court’s recognition
                                                                                                 of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. A few days later, Governor
                                                                                                 Cuomo continued that celebration by officiating at the marriage of two
                                                                                                 gay men directly outside the Stonewall Inn. Within minutes of the recent
                                                                                                 news of the murders of 49 people in a nightclub in Orlando, Florida—
                                                                                                 one of the most deadly shootings in American history—LGBT people and
                                                                                                 their supporters in New York headed again to Christopher Park to mourn,
                                                                                                 heal, and stand together in unity for the fundamental values of equality
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with D0




                                                                                                 and dignity that define us as a country.
                                                                                                 Today, Christopher Park is surrounded by brick sidewalks and a nineteenth
                                                                                                 century wrought-iron fence with gated openings. Educational signs about
                                                                                                 the Stonewall Uprising are found near the large arched main entryway.
                                                                                                 Divided into two halves, the western side of the park is open to the public


                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014   16:23 Jun 28, 2016   Jkt 238001   PO 00000   Frm 00001   Fmt 4705   Sfmt 4790   E:\FR\FM\29JND0.SGM   29JND0


                                             42216             Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents

                                                                                                 on a daily basis and contains a small plaza lined with brick pavers and
                                                                                                 benches. George Segal’s sculpture, ‘‘Gay Liberation,’’ stands as a focal point
                                                                                                 of the plaza. The sculpture was commissioned in 1979 on the tenth anniver-
                                                                                                 sary of the Stonewall Uprising, and its installation in 1992 cemented Chris-
                                                                                                 topher Park’s role as a destination for those wishing to understand the
                                                                                                 significance of the Stonewall Uprising. The eastern half of the park contains
                                                                                                 two structures erected in 1936: a statue of Civil War General Philip Sheridan,
                                                                                                 and a memorial flagstaff and plaque honoring Colonel Ephraim Elmer Ells-
                                                                                                 worth, an officer with the New York Fire Zouaves during the Civil War.
                                                                                                 Across the street from Christopher Park is the target of the June 28, 1969,
                                                                                                 police raid, the Stonewall Inn (51–53 Christopher Street), originally built
                                                                                                 in 1843 and 1846 as two separate two-story horse stables. In 1930, the
                                                                                                 two buildings were combined into one commercial space with a new single
                                                                                                 exterior facade. In 1934, the first-floor space opened as a restaurant called
                                                                                                 Bonnie’s Stonewall Inn, which served the neighborhood for over 30 years.
                                                                                                 The restaurant closed in 1966, but was reopened in 1967 as an LGBT
                                                                                                 bar called the Stonewall Inn.
                                                                                                 The streets and sidewalks in the neighborhood surrounding Christopher
                                                                                                 Park and the Stonewall Inn are an integral part of the neighborhood’s historic
                                                                                                 character and played a significant role in the Stonewall Uprising. The narrow
                                                                                                 streets bend, wrap back on themselves, and otherwise create directional
                                                                                                 havoc. In the early 1800s, the residents rejected the City’s attempts to enlarge
                                                                                                 the neighborhood streets and align them with the City’s grid plan, and
                                                                                                 the extension of Seventh Avenue South through the area in the early 1900s
                                                                                                 only added confusion. During the Stonewall Uprising, this labyrinthine street
                                                                                                 pattern helped the LGBT demonstrators, who knew the neighborhood, to
                                                                                                 evade riot-control police, who were not from the local precinct.
                                                                                                 Viewed from Christopher Park’s central location, this historic landscape—
                                                                                                 the park itself, the Stonewall Inn, the streets and sidewalks of the surrounding
                                                                                                 neighborhood—reveals the story of the Stonewall Uprising, a watershed
                                                                                                 moment for LGBT civil rights and a transformative event in the Nation’s
                                                                                                 civil rights movement on par with the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention
                                                                                                 at Seneca Falls and the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery March for voting rights
                                                                                                 in its role in energizing a broader community to demand equal rights.
                                                                                                 Although the 1960s were a time of social and political change that brought
                                                                                                 greater freedom to many segments of society, these new-found freedoms
                                                                                                 did not extend to members of the LGBT community. They faced increased
                                                                                                 oppression and criminal prosecution even for being physically intimate with
                                                                                                 consensual partners. In New York City, LGBT people were frequently arrested
                                                                                                 for acts such as same-sex dancing and kissing and wearing clothes of the
                                                                                                 perceived opposite gender. In some States, adults of the same sex caught
                                                                                                 having consensual sex in their own home could receive sentences of up
                                                                                                 to life in prison or be confined to a mental institution, where they faced
                                                                                                 horrific procedures, such as shock therapy, castration, and lobotomies. LGBT
                                                                                                 Americans lived their lives in secrecy for fear of losing their jobs, being
                                                                                                 evicted from their homes, or being arrested. For LGBT people of color
                                                                                                 or living in poverty, life was especially challenging.
                                                                                                 For over a century, Greenwich Village has attracted Americans of all kinds
                                                                                                 with an interest in political activism and nonconformity. By the 1930s,
                                                                                                 Greenwich Village was home to a significant LGBT community. Despite
                                                                                                 the aggressive anti-LGBT policies and practices that emerged in the City
                                                                                                 in the 1950s and 60s, a variety of bars, nightclubs, restaurants, hotels,
                                                                                                 and private clubs catered to an LGBT clientele. Many establishments lasted
                                                                                                 only a few months before police raided them and shut them down, a practice
                                                                                                 that intensified during mayoral election years such as 1969.
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with D0




                                                                                                 The police frequently raided LGBT bars for illegally selling alcoholic drinks
                                                                                                 to ‘‘homosexuals.’’ LGBT bars operated by organized crime syndicates often
                                                                                                 paid off members of the police force and in return received tips about
                                                                                                 when raids were planned. As part of a crackdown on LGBT bars in June
                                                                                                 1969, the Public Morals squad of Manhattan’s First Police Division raided


                                        VerDate Sep<11>2014   16:23 Jun 28, 2016   Jkt 238001   PO 00000   Frm 00002   Fmt 4705   Sfmt 4790   E:\FR\FM\29JND0.SGM   29JND0


                                                               Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents                       42217

                                                                                                 the Stonewall Inn on June 24, 1969, confiscated its liquor, and arrested
                                                                                                 its employees. The Stonewall Inn reopened the next day. Having made
                                                                                                 only minimal impact with this raid, the police decided to plan a surprise
                                                                                                 raid for the following Friday night or Saturday morning, when the bar
                                                                                                 would be crowded.
                                                                                                 On June 28, 1969, undercover police officers raided the Stonewall Inn around
                                                                                                 1:15 a.m., after one of them witnessed the illegal sale of alcohol. Customers
                                                                                                 resisted the police by refusing to show identification or go into a bathroom
                                                                                                 so that a police officer could verify their sex. As police officers began
                                                                                                 making arrests, the remaining customers gathered outside instead of dis-
                                                                                                 persing as they had in the past. They cheered when friends emerged from
                                                                                                 the bar under police escort, and they shouted ‘‘Gay Power!’’ and ‘‘We Want
                                                                                                 Freedom!’’. As word spread, the gathering grew in size and a riot ultimately
                                                                                                 ensued. Around 3:00 a.m., the City’s riot-control force appeared, and started
                                                                                                 to push the crowd away from the Stonewall Inn. But the crowd refused
                                                                                                 to disperse. Groups of demonstrators retreated to nearby streets, only to
                                                                                                 cut back and regroup near the Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park. The
                                                                                                 riot finally abated about 4:30 a.m., but during the next week several more
                                                                                                 protests formed, and in some cases, led to new riots and confrontations
                                                                                                 with the police.
                                                                                                 The Stonewall Uprising changed the Nation’s history. After the Stonewall
                                                                                                 incident, the LGBT community across the Nation realized its power to
                                                                                                 join together and demand equality and respect. Within days of the events,
                                                                                                 Stonewall seemed to galvanize LGBT communities across the country, bring-
                                                                                                 ing new supporters and inspiring LGBT activists to organize demonstrations
                                                                                                 to show support for LGBT rights in several cities. One year later, the number
                                                                                                 of LGBT organizations in the country had grown from around 50 to at
                                                                                                 least 1,500, and Pride Marches were held in a number of large cities to
                                                                                                 commemorate the Stonewall Uprising.
                                                                                                 The quest for LGBT equality after Stonewall evolved from protests and
                                                                                                 small gatherings into a nationwide movement. Lesbian women, gay men,
                                                                                                 bisexual and transgender people united to ensure equal rights for all people
                                                                                                 regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Hard-fought civil
                                                                                                 rights victories in courtrooms and statehouses across the country set the
                                                                                                 stage for victories in the Supreme Court that would have seemed unthinkable
                                                                                                 to those who rose up in Greenwich Village in June 1969. Today, communities,
                                                                                                 cities, and nations celebrate LGBT Pride Days and Months, and the number
                                                                                                 of Pride events approaches 1,000. The New York City Police Department
                                                                                                 now has an LGBT Liaison Unit to build positive relations with the LGBT
                                                                                                 community, and provides the community with expert protection when threats
                                                                                                 are identified. Most importantly, the Nation’s laws and jurisprudence increas-
                                                                                                 ingly reflect the equal treatment that the LGBT community deserves. There
                                                                                                 is important distance yet to travel, but through political engagement and
                                                                                                 litigation, as well as individual acts of courage and acceptance, this move-
                                                                                                 ment has made tremendous progress toward securing equal rights and equal
                                                                                                 dignity.
                                                                                                 WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code (known as the
                                                                                                 ‘‘Antiquities Act’’), authorizes the President, in the President’s discretion,
                                                                                                 to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric
                                                                                                 structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated
                                                                                                 upon the lands owned or controlled by the Federal Government to be national
                                                                                                 monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits
                                                                                                 of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible
                                                                                                 with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected;
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with D0




                                                                                                 WHEREAS, in 2000, the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) designated
                                                                                                 the Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, and portions of the surrounding neigh-
                                                                                                 borhood as a National Historic Landmark for its association with the Stone-
                                                                                                 wall Uprising, a momentous event that inspired a national LGBT civil rights
                                                                                                 movement;


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                                             42218             Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents

                                                                                                 WHEREAS, for the purpose of establishing a national monument to be admin-
                                                                                                 istered by the National Park Service, the City of New York has donated
                                                                                                 to the Federal Government fee title to the approximately 0.12-acre Christopher
                                                                                                 Park;
                                                                                                 WHEREAS, the designation of a national monument at the site of the Stone-
                                                                                                 wall Uprising would elevate its message and story to the national stage
                                                                                                 and ensure that future generations would learn about this turning point
                                                                                                 that sparked changes in cultural attitudes and national policy towards LGBT
                                                                                                 people over the ensuing decades;
                                                                                                 WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to preserve and protect Christopher
                                                                                                 Park and the historic objects associated with it in the Stonewall National
                                                                                                 Historic Landmark;
                                                                                                 NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States
                                                                                                 of America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54,
                                                                                                 United States Code, hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are
                                                                                                 situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the
                                                                                                 Federal Government to be the Stonewall National Monument (monument)
                                                                                                 and, for the purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as a part thereof
                                                                                                 all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Federal Govern-
                                                                                                 ment within the boundaries described on the accompanying map, which
                                                                                                 is attached to and forms a part of this proclamation. The reserved Federal
                                                                                                 lands and interests in lands encompass approximately 0.12 acres. The bound-
                                                                                                 aries described on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest
                                                                                                 area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to
                                                                                                 be protected.
                                                                                                 All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries described
                                                                                                 on the accompanying map are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from
                                                                                                 all forms of entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the
                                                                                                 public land laws, from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws,
                                                                                                 and from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal
                                                                                                 leasing.
                                                                                                 The establishment of the monument is subject to valid existing rights. If
                                                                                                 the Federal Government acquires any lands or interests in lands not owned
                                                                                                 or controlled by the Federal Government within the boundaries described
                                                                                                 on the accompanying map, such lands and interests in lands shall be reserved
                                                                                                 as a part of the monument, and objects identified above that are situated
                                                                                                 upon those lands and interests in lands shall be part of the monument,
                                                                                                 upon acquisition of ownership or control by the Federal Government.
                                                                                                 The Secretary shall manage the monument through the National Park Service,
                                                                                                 pursuant to applicable legal authorities, consistent with the purposes and
                                                                                                 provisions of this proclamation. The Secretary shall prepare a management
                                                                                                 plan, with full public involvement and in coordination with the City, within
                                                                                                 3 years of the date of this proclamation. The management plan shall ensure
                                                                                                 that the monument fulfills the following purposes for the benefit of present
                                                                                                 and future generations: (1) to preserve and protect the objects of historic
                                                                                                 interest associated with the monument, and (2) to interpret the monument’s
                                                                                                 objects, resources, and values related to the LGBT civil rights movement.
                                                                                                 The management plan shall, among other things, set forth the desired relation-
                                                                                                 ship of the monument to other related resources, programs, and organizations,
                                                                                                 both within and outside the National Park System.
                                                                                                 The National Park Service is directed to use applicable authorities to seek
                                                                                                 to enter into agreements with others, and the New York City Department
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                                                                                                 of Parks and Recreation in particular, to enhance public services and promote
                                                                                                 management efficiencies.
                                                                                                 Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing with-
                                                                                                 drawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the monument shall be the
                                                                                                 dominant reservation.


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                                                               Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents                       42219

                                                                                                 Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate,
                                                                                                 injure, destroy, or remove any feature of this monument and not to locate
                                                                                                 or settle upon any of the lands thereof.
                                                                                                 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth
                                                                                                 day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand sixteen, and of the
                                                                                                 Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fortieth.




                                             Billing code 3295–F6–P
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                                             42220             Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 125 / Wednesday, June 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents
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                                             [FR Doc. 2016–15536

                                             Filed 6–28–16; 8:45 a.m.]
                                             Billing code 4310–10–C
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Document Created: 2018-02-08 07:42:57
Document Modified: 2018-02-08 07:42:57
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionPresidential Documents
FR Citation81 FR 42215 

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