This sculpture honors the gay rights movement and commemorates the events at the Stonewall Inn opposite the park in which it stands that gave rise to the movement. Stonewall Inn was a bar and dance hall which, like numerous local establishments, catered to the homosexual community of Greenwich Village. In response to a police raid of Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, a group of activists organized the first gay and lesbian march from Washington Square to Stonewall to protest the crackdown and advocate the legalization of gay bars. Peter Putnam commissioned this monument a decade later. However, due to public opposition and a planned renovation of Christopher Park, the piece was not installed until 1992 even though the work had received all the community and design approvals by 1982.
