Brooklyn Swearingen

Dr. Berry

GWS 202

November 12, 2021

Stonewall forever monument

After experiencing this monument, I felt a deeper understanding with the Gay Liberation

Movement. This monument communicated the message that liberation was not easy at all, and

it took effort. In addition, it expressed the presence of police brutality and the non supporting

nature of law enforcement in this day and age, in a way as it is coming back up within today’s

society. The supporters on the sideline that threw pennies and objects at the officers, the

woman and her father that helped the injured members, the way that the newspapers portrayed

the riots, and the conservative organizations begging for ‘peace’ all add an aspect to it that

shows that the acceptance of queer culture was not linear. Over time, violent cases of

homophobia and transphobia have decreased, however it is still present. Most of the

unacceptance remains verbal. The way that this monument is different for everyone adds an

individualistic aspect to it, however I am unsure whether this is positive or negative. To me, I see

it as neutral, but unique. This is a good history in every way, as it dove deep into the history

using primary and secondary sources. This monument would be beneficial to present to high

school students or younger in their history classes.

As I progressed through this monument, I felt saddened and overwhelmed. This was not

necessarily due to the monument, as I am a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, therefore

hearing these events and the stories of others is upsetting. The idea that in another time I would

have had to riot for rights is upsetting. I walk away with the knowledge that the LGBTQIA

community had a dark history, yet they did not and have not given up on equality. This message

was given by a variety of narratives. Due to my form of thinking, I discovered most of the

narrative from the interviews and photos. All of these differ. Some were filled with strength,
others with worry, and some just stated the facts of the events. This lack of a single narrative led

into the individualized experience of the viewer. Although this monument was very helpful, it

does not succeed in describing the geography of sexualities, as it just described “Gay New

York.” The visuals and audio adds to the monument by adding emotion to the story. In addition,

these allow the viewer to have an additional sense of understanding to the history. Personally,

as a visual learner, I found this form of retaining information to be much more effective. As well

as the visuals and audio, the simplicity of using this monument also helped me navigate it and

find more information about the history with the timeline that I desired. The accessibility of this

source allows any age to use it, as long as they can work a computer. Since it is online and not

in person/in a museum, a greater audience can be reached. It would be better, however, if this

monument was presented more often, as prior to this class I had never heard of it.

Thinking of this digital space as an archive, it can be believed that visibility is very

important and, using Dr. Apple’s words, effective, necessary, and democratizing. The treatment

of LGBTQIA+ individuals is openly expressed within this monument, and it is also proven that

staying out of the closet and not hiding helps gain support from the public. This digital

monument fixes Stonewall in time and place because it will always be available to the public as

long as the internet is available. The NY monument is not as good at this, as it is not as wide

spread. This goal is reachable, yet difficult.