Joe Biden buys a round at the Stonewall Inn for 50th anniversary of riots
Joe Biden visited the Stonewall Inn to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the historic riots. (Joe Biden/ Facebook)
Joe Biden made a surprise visit to the Stonewall Inn on Tuesday (June 18) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
The former US vice president and 2020 presidential candidate got behind the bar to take photos with patrons and bought a round of beers. According to The New York Times, he even wrote one of the bar’s customers a note to explain their absence from class.
Biden wrote on Twitter: “Stopped by @TheStonewallNYC to celebrate #PrideMonth & #WorldPride where the movement began 50 years ago.”
In a second tweet he wrote: “For all the hard-won progress, for as much as we can celebrate how much better things have gotten — this fight is not over.
“We have to come together to stand up to abuses of power, ensure that everyone is treated with dignity, and fight for full equality.”
The Stonewall Inn in New York City was raided by police in 1969, which began the historic Stonewall riots. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty for Entertainment Weekly)
Joe Biden officiated a same-sex wedding in his own home
Biden has a record of supporting the LGBT+ community. He is credited with pushing Obama on the issue of marriage equality, publicly coming out in favour of same-sex marriage during his time as vice president before Obama himself did.
In 2016, Biden officiated the wedding of two gay White House employees at his house at the time, the US Naval Observatory, which is the official residence of the vice president. He has conducted a number of same-sex weddings since.
June 28 2019 will be the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which were an uprising against police that changed the course of LGBT+ rights and equality.
The Stonewall Inn has hosted more than one surprise visitor this month. Taylor Swift made an appearance on June 14 to play an intimate concert after dropping her new single which protests homophobia.
