stonewall50tribute.2019

The Stonewall Inn is a gay bar located on Christopher Street in New York City—a local place for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other people to gather, converse and be with other people self-described as different, and a place to be comfortable.

June 28, 1969

A regular evening for New York City, then a bar raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, started an uprising, rebellion and rioting in Greenwich Village. This unannounced raid by New York City Police turned violent as patrons and employees were roughly hauled out to be showcased and arrested.

The bar patrons, neighbors and others had grown tired of being treated as “second class” citizens and started resisting. Thus began six days of protests and violent clashes with police outside the Stonewall Inn. This uprising marked the beginning of the rise of the gay rights movement in the U.S. and around the world.

Stonewall Inn uprising—on-site installation

Wilton Art® honors pioneers of any group to recognize oppression, inequality and unjust persecution. The individuals in the Stonewall Inn had simply had enough of being treated as lesser or second class citizens. This proved to be a pivotal moment in liberating gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer and transgender men and women in the quest for equal rights, not better rights.

During the month of June 2019 at Wilton Manors City Hall you were able to see the stonewall50tribute.2019 on-site installation of images from the first few nights of the Stonewall Inn rebellion. The images installed on the front windows of City Hall bring us back to a time of oppression and conflict. The graphic imagery brings each individual to self-reflect about equal rights for all. We invited all to stop and place themselves in that moment, 50 years ago. You were then able to walk inside City Hall to view stonewallribbons.2019 and immerse yourself in a colorful symphony of ribbons symbolizing the uniqueness of every individual—boldly imagining a place free of stigma, and honoring EVERY individual to be themselves; not dictated by others’ beliefs, but your true, authentic, beautiful self.

SELF REFLECTION

Wilton Art® offered this exhibition to engage you; to go inside yourself and evaluate your own thoughts, actions and words. Can you identify anything that you might change to honor ANY other individual as equal to all?

Powerfully equal, beautifully together, we are indeed all connected.

Celebrate all.

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