Interior Department to identify significant gay and lesbian historic sites

NEW YORK, May 30 (UPI) -- Interior Secretary Sally Jewell used New York's Stonewall Inn as a backdrop as she announced a plan Friday to identify important sites in gay and lesbian history.

Jewell said the study is part of a larger initiative to include other minority groups in the National Park Service's historic sites. The 1969 riot against police harassment at the Stonewall Inn kickstarted the modern movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

The Stonewall, still a bar, was designated a National Historic Site in 2000. It remains the only one associated with LGBT history.

"We know that there are other sites, like Stonewall Inn, that have played important roles in our nation's ongoing struggle for civil rights," Jewell said. "The contributions of women, minorities and members of the LGBT community have been historically underrepresented in the National Park Service, and the LGBT theme study will help ensure that we understand, commemorate and share these key chapters in our nation's complex and diverse history."

Jewell said the Park Service will work with a panel of scholars over the next 12 to 18 months. The first meeting is set for June 10 in Washington.