Fact Sheet Jun 24, 2016

A National Park for Stonewall: FAQs

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The Stonewall legacy is a part of the push for human rights and civil rights in the United States.

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Stonewall Inn  

Why a national park at Stonewall?

  • National parks protect America’s special places and preserve stories of undisputed national significance.

  • What happened at Stonewall is a part of the story of the struggle for human rights and civil rights in the United States. This is a special place. The demonstrations and protests that took place here in response to police raids targeting the LGBT community are considered some of the most important events in LGBT history and are recognized as a critical turning point that paved the way for the modern LGBT civil rights movement.

  • Stonewall is worthy of a national monument designation and belongs in the National Park System. Its powerful civil rights story should be remembered and recounted for the millions of people that visit America’s national parks each year.

How do national parks get created?

  • A unit of the National Park System is created by an act of Congress or by the president as a national monument through the Antiquities Act.

  • The Antiquities Act permits the U.S. president to designate a site as a national monument from existing lands already owned by the federal government.

What’s the difference between a national monument and a national park?

  • The only difference between a national monument and a national park is in the way the two are established. All units in the National Park System are managed the same.

I thought all national parks were places like Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon. How can Stonewall be a national park?

  • America’s more than 400 national park sites include national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House. 

Does the National Park Service own the bar?

  • No. The bar will remain privately owned and operated.

Does the National Park Service own everything in Christopher Park?

  • In the case of Stonewall, the National Park Service now owns Christopher Park. The Stonewall Inn bar will continue to be privately owned. The bar will be included in the interpretation for telling the full story of Stonewall, as will the surrounding streets where the protests took place.

Does the bar have to stop serving alcohol?

  • No. The bar will remain privately owned and operated.

When will Stonewall National Monument officially open?

  • The streets and areas surrounding Stonewall are open as they always have been. The bar will retain regular business hours as it always has. Come to the park to meet National Park Service rangers and NPCA volunteers this summer who will be stationed around Christopher Park and near the Stonewall to answer questions.

Is transgender history a part of Stonewall National Monument? Are LGBT people of color represented at Stonewall National Monument?

  • While ultimately the National Park Service will manage and interpret the narrative at the new park, they will first engage in a robust public process and consult with various historians and community members and stakeholders represented within the LGBT community to ensure that the full Stonewall story is told accurately.

Is this park associated with the Stonewall movie released in 2015?

  • No, this campaign is not associated with the movie.

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