Stonewall Inn: Lady Gaga joins huge crowds in New York marking 50th anniversary of LGBTQ protests

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Lady Gaga, Whoopi Goldberg and Alicia Keys stood alongside huge crowds marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion.

Hundreds of New Yorkers and visitors from around the world filed past the landmark Stonewall Inn on Friday to mark the 50th anniversary of the rebellion that catalysed the LGBTQ liberation movement.

Goldberg urged the throng to "remember the people who didn't make it this far" after helping pave a way forward for LGBTQ rights.

On June 28, 1969, patrons at the Stonewall Inn gay bar resisted a police raid, which sparked days of demonstrations, followed by the snowballing in LGBTQ activism.

Lady Gaga performed for the crowds
Erik Pendzich/REX

Gaga told those gathered that they "are the definition of courage" whilst Keys serenaded them with her hit Girl On Fire and other songs, including True Colours, a 1980s hit for Cyndi Lauper.

Its chorus declares: "Your true colours are beautiful like a rainbow."

Alicia Keys performs onstage during Pride Live's 2019 Stonewall Day.
Getty Images

HJ Farr, an actor from Madison, recently worked on a show about Stonewall in the Wisconsin town and decided to visit the landmark for the anniversary.

"I benefit directly from the events that took place, and I wanted to pay my respects and just feel the history," Mr Farr said.

Whoopi Goldberg and fashion designer Christian Siriano attend Pride Live's 2019 Stonewall Day.
Getty Images

Robert Beaird also travelled from Dallas to attend the anniversary events. At 53, Mr Beaird came out only recently after being married to a woman and fathering children.

"I just kind of hid who I was for my whole life, and then within the last two years, I've been going through this kind of cathartic experience of accepting myself," he said. "Just to be here with all these people is pretty amazing."

Customers gather in the Stonewall Inn in New York
AP

The event will be followed by Sunday's Pride parade in New York, which also will swing past the bar and the park outside as part of the Stonewall National Monument.

In 1969, the Stonewall Inn was part of a gay scene that was known, yet not open.

Whoopi Goldberg speaks at the WorldPride NYC 2019 Opening Ceremony.
Getty Images

At the time, showing same-sex affection or dressing in a way deemed gender-inappropriate could get people arrested, and bars had lost liquor licenses for serving LGBTQ customers.

The police raid on the bar began early the morning of June 28. It was unlicensed, and the officers had been assigned to stop any illegal alcohol sales.

Men walk across a rainbow coloured sidewalk at Christopher street near the Stonewall Inn in New York
REUTERS

Patrons and people who converged on the bar on Christopher Street resisted, hurling objects and at points scuffling with the officers.

Protests followed over several more days. A year later, gay New Yorkers marked the anniversary of the riot with the Christopher Street Liberation Day March.

Thousands proudly paraded through a city where, at the time, LGBTQ people were largely expected to stay in the shadows.

The Stonewall Inn itself closed not long after the raid. The current Stonewall Inn dates to the early 1990s.

"We understand we're the innkeepers of history," said current co-owner Stacy Lentz. "We really feel like the fire that started at Stonewall in 1969 is not done. The battleground has just shifted."

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