Celebration In New York City

NEW YORK CITY: Stonewall Rebellion Participant Danny Garvin Dies At 65

Stonewall Rebellion participant Danny Garvin has died at the age of 65. Via press release from Stonewall historian David Carter:

“Danny was there the night it opened (on his birthday in 1967) and became a regular customer of the Stonewall Inn,” Carter said. “He met his first love there by dancing with him, dated the main doorman (Blonde Frankie), and was roommates with one of the men who worked in the coat check. Danny’s knowledge of the club has contributed a lot to a better understanding of the Stonewall Inn. Fortunately, Danny also happened to walk up the street soon after the June 1969 raid began, and his detailed memories of that night significantly add to our knowledge about the Uprising,” Carter added.

“Danny’s life story is all the more remarkable and historically relevant because his experiences mirrored those of his generation as if he were a gay Zelig,” Carter said. “Danny was in a gay hippie commune before Stonewall and he was roommates with gay activist Morty Manford after Stonewall. Morty Manford’s introduction of Danny Garvin and another gay friend to Manford’s parents precipitated Manford’s coming out to his parents. Morty’s mother Jeanne Manford later founded what became Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, now PFLAG. He hung out with Andy Warhol’s crowd, and he founded the recovery contingent of LGBT marchers in the LGBT Pride March each June.”

Friends and family honored Garvin with a memorial this weekend. I had the honor of being seated next to Garvin at an Ali Forney Center event two years ago and I'm afraid I asked him far, far too many questions. The AFC remembers Danny Garvin:

The Ali Forney Center honors the memory of our friend and dedicated volunteer Danny Garvin, who passed away last night. Danny was one of the heroic homeless LGBT youths who fought during the Stonewall Uprising. At that time he was living out of a locker in the Port Authority, and struggling to survive on the streets. 45 years later LGBT people live much better than in 1969, but we still need to do so much more for our homeless youths. Today there are over 200,000 homeless LGBT youths suffering on the streets of our nation, as he did then. Please remember them in honor of Danny and the heroic street kids whose resistance gave us so much.

NEW YORK CITY: Feds Grant $50K To Document LGBT Historic Sites

Via White House press release:

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis announced $500,000 in matching grants to help fund 13 projects across the country to increase the number of listings in the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) associated with Latinos and other underrepresented communities including African Americans, Asian Americans and LGBT Americans.

“Our American heritage is a tapestry made up of threads from many nations and communities, and we are working with public and private partners to help ensure that our National Register of Historic Places reflects this remarkable diversity,” Jewell said. “These matching grants will enable us to add important sites that haven’t yet been recognized and more fully tell the story of our country.”

“As America’s storyteller through place, the National Park Service is using the leadership of groups like the Latino Scholars and resources like grants to develop and share more deeply the stories of underrepresented groups," said Jarvis. “Looking ahead to the National Park Service’s Centennial in 2016, we are committed to telling a more complete and diverse story of America’s history in our second century.”

On the list: "LGBT Sites in New York City -- $49,999 to survey and document historic and cultural sites associated with LGBT heritage." Currently the Stonewall Inn is the only LGBT-related site that has been "designated a national historic landmark by the National Park Service as a property having extraordinary significance in American history."

Plan To Expand LGBT Historical Site List Announced At Stonewall Press Conference

Feds To Expand LGBT Historical Site List

Via White House press release:

On Friday, May 30, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will announce a new National Park Service theme study to identify places and events associated with the civil rights struggle of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans and ensure that the agency is telling a complete story of America’s heritage and history.

The Stonewall Inn is the site of a riot in 1969 that is widely recognized as a catalyst for the modern civil rights movement in the LGBT community. It is currently the only LGBT-associated site that has been designated a national historic landmark by the National Park Service as a property having extraordinary significance in American history.

The theme study is part of a broader initiative under the Obama Administration to ensure that the National Park Service reflects and tells a more complete story of the people and events responsible for building this nation. The National Park Service has ongoing heritage initiatives to commemorate minorities and women who have made significant contributions to our nation’s history and culture, including studies related to Latinos, women’s history, and Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

Amazing.

Photo Of The Day

Many more super fun NYC touristy shots are here. (Via JMG reader Scott)

Stonewall Inn To Drop Guinness Beer Over Sponsorship Of St. Patrick's Day ParadeUPDATE: Guinness Pulls Out Of Parade

Via GLAAD:

The historic Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the modern LGBT equality movement, will drop Guinness beer from its shelves beginning Monday, March 17 following the beer company's decision to stand by its sponsorship of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. The Parade, which is the oldest and largest St. Patrick's Day celebration in the country, prohibits LGBT families and organizations from participating. "The ban on gay and lesbian people marching openly forces me, as a proud Irish New Yorker, to look my five year-old twins in the eye and tell them that the parade organizers don't think our family is good enough to join in the celebration," said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. "By supporting the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, Guinness is telling its LGBT customers and employees that it supports the parade's discriminatory ban," Ellis continued. "It's time for Guinness, other sponsors and Irish New Yorkers to speak out in favor of an inclusive parade that welcomes the Irish spirit of love and family."

Yesterday Heineken dropped its sponsorship of the parade.

Heineken has pulled its sponsorship of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade, which prohibits LGBT families and organizations from marching. A company official at Heineken has confirmed to GLAAD that the company will no longer be a sponsor of Monday's parade, saying "we are passionate about equality for all people." However, according to a tweet from CNBC, Ford Motor Company has announced that it will continue to sponsor the parade, despite the ban on LGBT families marching openly.

Here's the statement from Ford:

Ford Motor Company is involved in a wide range of events and organizations in communities across the country and around the world, including long-standing participation in this parade. No one person, group or event reflects Ford's views on every issue. What we can tell you is that Ford is proud of its inclusive policies. Every member of the Ford team is valued, and we provide employee benefits regardless of race, gender or sexual orientation.

RELATED: On Friday, Sam Adams pulled out of the Boston parade.

UPDATE: Guinness has pulled out.

Guinness today announced that the beer company would drop its sponsorship of the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade due to the parade's discriminatory rule that prohibits LGBT families and organizations from participating. In a statement released today, Guinness said: "Guinness has a strong history of supporting diversity and being an advocate for equality for all. We were hopeful that the policy of exclusion would be reversed for this year’s parade. As this has not come to pass, Guinness has withdrawn its participation. We will continue to work with community leaders to ensure that future parades have an inclusionary policy."

NYC Preservationists Seek Landmark Status For The Historic Stonewall Inn

The historic Stonewall Inn and the nearby Julius, NYC's oldest gay bar, are both within the Greenwich Village Historic District and any physical changes to the buildings must by approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.  But the Greenwich Village Society of Historical Preservation is seeking individual landmark status for both sites to further protect them as icons of LGBT history.

"They're not getting the explicit protections and recognition that they should be getting," said Andrew Berman, GVSHP's executive director. "It's very, very easy for this history to get lost to the sands of time, and that's one of the purposes of landmark designation — is to make sure that it's not lost, that it is recognized." To ensure that the history of The Stonewall and Julius' are remembered, Berman wants the LPC to either designate them as individual landmarks or to update the original 1969 landmarking report with more details on the buildings' cultural significance. "We don't really want to leave these things to chance," Berman said. "It should be clear and explicit in terms of the designation reports." Berman and state Sen. Brad Hoylman recently wrote letters to LPC Chairman Robert Tierney requesting the landmarking changes.

The commission has acknowledged receipt of the requests and basically says they'll get around to considering it when they have the time.

BREAKING: Fire Threatens Stonewall Inn

JMG reader Chris and the above Twitter user report that the NYFD is currently on the scene of a fire at the building that abuts the historic Stonewall Inn in the West Village. The building on the corner houses the Duplex, the famed gay piano bar and cabaret space. The fire appears to be limited to the building between the two bars at this writing. I'll update this post when news reports become available.

NEW YORKERS: Join The Celebration Outside Stonewall At 5:30PM Today

Today's celebration outside the historic Stonewall Inn begins at 5:30PM.  Expect a huge crowd and prepare to be fabulous.  DOMA champion Edith Windsor will be there! I hope to see a great JMG turnout!

TONIGHT: Drag March NYC

Facebook event page.

Prop 8 Celebration At NYC's Stonewall Inn

NYC Prop 8 Rally Tonight

Celebration Outside The Stonewall Inn

Crowds Swell Outside Stonewall Inn

Waiting, hoping. (Source)

Saturday In NYC: Eurovision Song Contest Screening Party At Stonewall Inn

This Saturday at the Stonewall Inn, Flotilla DeBarge will host a screening party for gay fans of the Eurovision Song Contest, which airs live from Germany at 2pm. Go Serbia!

NY Daily News On Stonewall Bashing

UPDATE: The families of the Stonewall attackers are rushing to their defense.

In an interview with The Daily News, Orlando's dad swore his 17-year-old boy was no bigot and wants to apologize "in person" to Carver. "We are a working class family," Don Orlando said outside his Staten Island home Tuesday. "We don't hate anyone here." What Orlando did was "wrong," his father added. "I'm not going to sugarcoat what happened," he said. "It was a bar fight, but I swear on my life it's not about Gays or race or any of that. We don't care about any of that stuff in this family." Had there been "an elephant" in the bathroom, "there probably would have been swings at the elephant," Don Orlando said.

The 57-year-old landscaper spoke out a day after his son and Francis, 21, who is also from Staten Island, were charged with assault as a hate crime and attempted robbery. It was not their first brush with the law. Orlando has a juvenile arrest for disorderly conduct. Francis has convictions for disorderly conduct, pot and weapons possession, but hasn't done any time in state prison, records show. "Why do people keep saying this is a hate crime?" Francis' girlfriend, Nancy Casabona, told The News. "Where's the hate? This is not a hate crime. He has a sister who is a lesbian." Francis' sister, Deanna Francis, who is indeed a lesbian, lashed out at Orlando's lawyer for suggesting Francis instigated the attack. "It takes two to tango," she said. "My brother isn't the only one at fault here. There is a lot more to this story."

Police report that the two attackers are blaming each other for the assault.

CNN On Pride & Stonewall's 40th

A pretty good piece, actually.

Wednesday: Jamaica Protest At NYC's Historic Stonewall Inn

LGBT activists will gather at NYC's historic Stonewall Inn on Wednesday at 6:30PM to protest the treatment of gay people in Jamaica. In a show of solidarity, Stonewall's owners will pour their stock of Myer's Rum and Red Stripe beer into the gutter of Christopher Street. Via press release:

"We, as the owners of the Stonewall Inn, birthplace of the Gay rights movement, refuse to support, in any way, shape or form, the oppression of any people especially our gay brothers and sisters in Jamaica. We ask all people of all walks of life to send a clear message to the Jamaican people and their government, that as long as they continue to allow and condone violence and hatred toward the Gay community, we will neither buy their products nor support their tourist trade. To do so is to tacitly support the current climate of oppression."

Boycott Jamiaca co-organizer Wayne Besen: "If you love your gay friends and family members, you won't visit Jamaica. If you care about the human rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, you won't buy Jamaican products. We hope that all gay and gay friendly bar owners and restaurateurs across the nation will participate in 'rum dumps.' We can no longer subsidize our own slaughter."UPDATE: One Jamaican group, J-Flag (Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals, and Gays) does not support the boycott. Via press release:

Jamaica's deeply ingrained antipathy towards homosexuality and homosexuals is a social phenomenon that will not be undone by boycott campaigns or government dictate. It requires the painstaking effort of confronting the society and talking to social actors who can bring change in the way society sees LGBT people. We have been doing this through a small but growing group of increasingly aware opinion leaders who are concerned about the damage homophobia does to our society. We need those ears to continue being open to us and we need the relative safety that some of us have been given to speak to them.

It is important that our international allies understand the nature of our struggle and engage us in a respectful way about it. Unless they are willing and able to lead the struggle in the trenches as we have done, it is important that they be guided by us. To do otherwise would be to act in a manner that destroys the space for dialogue that we have managed to create over the past decade and to set back our struggle. It is for this reason that we urge those in the international arena who seek to act in our name and on our behalf to do so not only with the utmost care and responsibility but also with due consideration for our efforts and concerns as members of the local activist community.