AARP Launches Stonewall Anniversary Site
June 25, 2009
The folks over at AARP have launched a new site highlighting the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots -- pivotal to the beginning of the modern LGBT rights movement. We owe so much to those early pioneers who took a stand when homosexuality was considered a mental illness and there were no protections under law for LGBT people. As our community finds itself on the precipice of remarkable change, the site is an important reminder of the shoulders on which we stand and the legacy we have a duty to honor. It's also wonderful to see AARP including LGBT seniors as an element of the larger community they represent. In their words: "At AARP, we always reflect on the historical moments that changed our members’ lives and, for many of our members, the Stonewall Riots marked a pivotal moment in the fight for equality.” From their release:
The exclusive online interactive features will include interviews and quotes from prominent leaders and 50+ members of the LGBT community including Martina Navratilova, Bishop Gene Robinson, Frank Kameny (gay rights movement pioneer), Joe Solmonese (President of the Human Rights Campaign), Michael Adams (Executive Director of SAGE (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders)), Kate Clinton (celebrated humorist and author), Sabrina Sojourner (the first openly Lesbian African-American to hold the title of U.S. Representative for Washington, D.C.), John Cepek,National President of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), David Carter (author of Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution), Martin Duberman (author of Stonewall), Eric Marcus (author of Making History: The Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Equal Rights, 1945-1990), Michele Balan (comedian and finalist on “Last Comic Standing”), among others.
