This is 99% invisible. I'm Roman Mars.

It started with a place called The Stonewall Inn.

Gay bars had been raided by police for decades.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people

had been routinely arrested and subjected to harassment and beatings

by the people who were meant to protect them.

But one night in this place called the Stonewall Inn, when the police stormed in to continue

their abuse, the clientele fought back. The uprising that night, led by

drag queens, turned into a protest over the next few days and evolved into a movement that is still making the world better for everyone today.

And it started with a place.

On June 28, 1969, the patrons at the Stonewall Inn made history, which is why gay pride celebrations

all over the country take place in June.

And on June 27th, 2016, President Obama in the National Park Service designated the Stonewall Inn,

Christopher Park, and the surrounding streets as the first national monument to LGBT Q rights.

In 1989, 20 years after the Stonewall Uprising and now nearly 30 years ago, radio producer

Dave Ise created the first documentary of Stonewall ever in any medium. It was also

Dave's first radio story if you can believe it. He later went on to found the much

beloved and hugely popular story core project.

With the anniversary and national commemoration of the Stonewall Inn and the tragic massacre

in Orlando, I thought it would be good to revisit this place, which like so many other gay bars around

the world is much more than just a place. This is Remembering Stonewall by Dave I Say with Michael Shurker, originally broadcast in 1989. I am Gene Harwood and my age is 80. I'm Bruce Merrill.

I don't know if it's really true, but now people do refer to us as the two oldest gay men in America.

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