In 2016, a 7.7-acre area in the West Village, including tiny triangular Christopher Park, became the first US national monument dedicated to LGBTIQ+ history. The monument protects the site of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, when patrons at the Stonewall Inn fought against police brutality, sparking the modern LGBTIQ+ rights movement. Today, NYC's LGBTIQ+ community comes here to celebrate, mourn, party and protest. The city boasts many gayborhoods, but this is its beating heart.
There's little ostentatious memorializing here, save a few plaques and two sets of slender white statues: a male couple and a female couple, holding hands and talking. Known as Gay Liberation, they are a tribute to the normalcy of gay life. Plenty of pilgrims give the monument the gravity it merits.
