Stonewall Riots in New York City Tourism Campaign: April 7, 2009

On April 7, 2009, New York City officials announced that the Stonewall Riots of 1969 will be featured in an official city tourism campaign capitalizing on the 40th anniversary of the uprising in June 2009, and promoting the city as a gay and lesbian tourist destination.

In reporting the city's announcement of the forthcoming campaign, the New York Times referred to the "Stonewall rebellion of 1969, in which protesters clashed with the authorities after a violent police raid on a Greenwich Village bar," calling this "a defining moment in the history of the gay rights movement." The Times story stressed: "The uprising, a response to longstanding police harassment, began at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in the early morning of June 28, 1969. It resulted in injuries, arrests and property damage over several days.

The new marketing campaign uses the slogan “Rainbow Pilgrimage,” and seeks to portray a visit to New York “as a ‘rite of passage’ for the gay and lesbian traveler,” according to city officials.

Openly lesbian City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, was quoted:

I don’t think it’s ironic, I think it’s significant . . . .You know, 40 years ago a group of people said enough was enough. And they struck back against police officers. They struck back against unfair treatment. And . . . it created the modern L.G.B.T. civil rights movement.

The Times reported that John D’Emilio, a professor of history and gender and women’s studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said in a phone interview:

Within living memory, something has been turned around. People who were seen as an unwelcome presence are now encouraged to arrive.

The former executive director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in New York City, Richard Burns, was also quoted:

I would not be happy if our history were sanitized, but as long as it’s honestly presented, I like the idea of gay liberation history being incorporated into what is celebrated about New York City.

The Times reported:

George A. Fertitta, chief executive of NYC & Company, the city’s tourism marketing agency, estimated that 10 percent of the city’s 47 million visitors last year were lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender and noted that out-of-town visitors spent $30 billion in the city last year. The $1.9 million marketing initiative includes print ads in the June/July issue of Out magazine, outdoor advertising in Britain and Spain, and online ads that will urge travelers to “Join the Rainbow Pilgrimage and plan your journey.” The campaign also includes travel packages that can be booked at a new Web site (nycgo.com/gay), and partnerships with the tourism Web sites lastminute.com and Travelocity. Bus shelters and street banners in the city also will promote the campaign, which includes a trailer for a 30-minute documentary about gay life in New York by the filmmaker George Hickenlooper. The initiative is to culminate in the city’s gay pride celebration, from June 20 to 28.