After announcing last week (June 26) that it may be forced to permanently close due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Stonewall Inn has received a $250,000 (£203k) donation to save it.
The bar, located in New York’s Greenwich Village, is the first designated LGBTQ+ monument in America, and the site of the famed 1969 Stonewall riots. Having been closed for three months due to COVID-19, The Stonewall Inn launched a crowdfunding campaign to save the establishment from shuttering for good.
At the time of writing, the campaign has raised $292,898 of its $300k goal. $250k of which was donated by the Gill Foundation, an organisation dedicated to supporting the LGBTQ+ community in the US.
“As the first and only LGBTQ+ National Monument,” The Stonewall Inn’s co-owners, Stacy Lentz and Kurt Kelly, said in a statement to Reuters, “Stonewall is home not only to the history of our community, but also the history of our city and country. We are beyond grateful for this generous pledge that will help us keep the history alive.”
The Stonewall riots were sparked by a police raid on The Stonewall Inn, after the violence by homophobic and transphobic law enforcement was met with resistance from the bar’s patrons, including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. The event is regarded as a crucial and era-defining moment in the struggle for LGBTQ+ rights.
The Stonewall Inn is set to open at 50 per cent capacity on July 6. You can still donate to the bar’s campaign here, and help it reach its $300k goal.