Stonewall Inn Co-owner Stacy Lentz is Fighting Hate One Safe Space at a Time

Ground Zero for the queer rights movement is the Stonewall Inn. It was there on June 28, 1969 that New York City police raided the bar under the pretext that it was an unlicensed bar selling liquor illegally. But its queer patrons saw the raid as another in the city's long-standing harassment of their community, and had had enough. As police arrested staff and some patrons, a crowd grew in the park across the street, and the tensions erupted into violence that continued through the early morning hours. Ironically, the outnumbered police, facing a barrage of flying debris hurled at them, sought shelter in the only safe space they could find – inside the Stonewall Inn.

The riots continued for a few more nights. Then, in July, the anger turned into political activism and the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) were born. That anger spread nationwide, culminating the following summer with gay right marches in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles to celebrate the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

The frightened police that night in June learned the value of a "safe space," as the term became known. But queer people knew of it for years, finding it in the gay bars that grew in urban centers after World War II. Despite the threat of police harassment, the bars were a place to gather and feel comfortable in a time when homosexuality was illegal in United States and considered an abnormality by the psychiatric profession. Despite their connection with the organized crime (they were largely owned and operated by the Mafia), gay bars grew in number in the years following Stonewall and became the place where queer rights activists gathered to organize and plan.

The Stonewall Inn closed in the 1970s, but partially reopened as a bar in the 1990s, then fully reopened in 2007. It was designated as a National Monument on June 24, 2016 by President Barack Obama. This made it the first U.S. national monument dedicated to queer history. The monument includes the Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, and surrounding areas in Greenwich Village, New York City.

One of the key players in the evolution of the Stonewall Inn is queer activist Stacy Lentz, who helped rescue and renew the Stonewall Inn. She became the co-owner of the Inn in 2006, helping to preserve its legacy and its ongoing place in queer culture. To that end, she co-founded The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative (SIGBI), a nonprofit dedicated to supporting LGBTQ+ communities, especially in rural and conservative areas. The organization provides grants, resources, and advocacy programs to help create safe spaces and advance equality.

Prior to her involvement with the Stonewall Inn, Lentz was a passionate advocate for queer equality, including organizations focused on youth homelessness, HIV/AIDS awareness, and mental health support for queer individuals. One her key interests is the promotion of safe spaces, which led to the development of "SIGBI Safe Spaces" certification, which recognizes businesses, venues, and organizations that actively support queer rights. This program provides guidelines and training on how to create an inclusive, harassment-free environment for queer individuals.

Over the course of her career, Lentz has used her platform as a public speaker to addresses these key issues of inclusion and safety within queer communities. She has also participated in organizing hundreds of events and fundraisers for queer organizations, including GLAAD, Marriage Equality USA, the Hetrick-Martin Institute, HRC, The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP), Sylvia's Place, Lambda Legal, SAGE, and others. For her work, she has been honored by the Stonewall Community Foundation (not affiliated with SIGBI) and has received the Community Hero Award from The New York City Anti-Violence Project and HBO. Finally, Lentz was recently knighted by The Imperial Court of New York.

But the struggle continues. Recently, the Stonewall National Monument's website received some anti-trans word-smithing from the Trump Administration when the acronym LGBTQ+ from the National Park Service's website by changing it to LGB, and omitting mentions of transgender figures who were instrumental in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. This move was widely condemned by the queer community and its allies. On her Instagram page, Lentz responded with: "There is no Pride without Trans folks leading that fight!. . . Trying to erase them from the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement will not happen!"

EDGE spoke to her recently about her advocacy, the Stonewall Inn, and the importance of safe spaces.

EDGE: Please introduce yourself.

Stacy Lentz: My name is Stacy Lentz, and I am one of the owners of the Stonewall Inn and the CEO of the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative.

EDGE: How did you first get involved in political activism?

Stacy Lentz: It was something I have always been interested in. I studied journalism and poli-sci in college, so I've always been interested. After I graduated college in 1992, one of my first jobs was going door to door for the Clinton-Gore campaign.

I've always had an interest in politics, and always in activism. In 2006, when we bought Stonewall, I was excited to be a part of that historical legacy and wanted to help keep the bar alive. For me, it was about activism and putting back at the forefront of the LGBTQ+ Rights movement and the global fight for equality.

EDGE: What does this new administration and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation mean for the community nationwide?

Stacy Lentz: We've seen this before. We've always faced opposition and tough times. At this moment, it's tough because we thought we'd made so many strides. We thought that we had really gotten equality in terms of marriage, and that it would be the law of the land. No one was going to overturn it. We really thought that we had also gotten many rights for our trans brothers and sisters, and, obviously, they're the most marginalized, and they're under attack more than anybody right now. It's alarming to think that many of the things we fought for our entire lives could be taken back with the sign of a pen on an executive order. For me personally, I like using my white cis privilege to fight really hard for POC, queer folks, and for marginalized trans folks – these folks who, probably, even in 2025, can't get into the same rooms I can, which is wrong. We must ensure that we use our voices and power to fight.

It's also about changing hearts and minds. So, we're back in the battle. This is the America we live in now. People voted for this, so we've got to ensure that this does not become normalized going forward. I will keep fighting. We need to keep fighting.

EDGE: Has that changed from 2016?

Stacy Lentz: It's gotten way worse. We have somebody who feels emboldened, and I'm not even sure he believes half the things he's signing as executive orders or even if it has ever been politically aligned. What we're seeing is that we're not being run by the Republican party anymore. We're being run by a white Christian, nationalist, fundamentalist oligarchy administration, and it's not even about Trump; it's about the people that he's putting into key cabinet positions, and it's about the people that are not standing up to him in the Republican party. He's getting full carte blanche, and no one is trying to stop him.

EDGE: How did you get involved and become co-owner of The Stonewall Inn?

Stacy Lentz: In 2006, I ran a large executive search and headhunting firm. I had a very strong background in sales and marketing, and I'd become good friends with the owners of The Duplex, a piano bar and cabaret theatre then. They had mentioned that the Stonewall Inn was going under and were looking to buy it, so I jumped at the chance to become an investor. They knew that I was becoming very politically active, especially amongst queer women in the lesbian community. And, again, they loved that I had a marketing and sales background, which would be important in marketing the bar and returning it to its rightful place in history. They've been great about letting me use the bar as a platform for activism, and they're also passionate about it.

It's been an incredible journey, and sometimes a huge responsibility. We're trying to keep the Stonewall legacy alive, and spreading it to the places, faces, and spaces that need it the most.

EDGE: Talk to us about the need for LGBTQ+ safe spaces (like The Stonewall Inn) when the community's rights are challenged.

Stacy Lentz: Many times, when folks think of safe spaces, they think of bars. For our generation, they were the original safe spaces. When I came to New York in 1994 and walked into Henry Head at Hudson's for the first time, I never felt safer or seen in my entire life. Being around lesbians for the first time like that, especially having grown up in a cornfield in Kansas, was amazing. Bars have operated as community centers and safe spaces in the past, and that's all we had. Now, Gen Z and Gen Alpha see this a little differently. Safe spaces are certainly not just bars. They can be anywhere, and they can be online. When we're talking about Safe Spaces and our Stonewall Inn Gives Back initiative, we have a Safe Space certification program. We're trying to certify not just bars, but venues and workplaces, whether that's shopping centers or public places where people gather to make sure that the LGBTQ+ community does feel safe. We're talking mainly about mental safety in terms of not getting misgendered, making sure that DEI practices stay intact, hiring LGBTQ+ folks, and that they feel safe in the workplace.

EDGE: Tell us about the wonderful work that The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative does for the community.

Stacy Lentz: So, in addition to our own programming, we are certifying safe spaces all over the globe. Some places we've certified and worked with are the crypto.com arena, the US Open, the New York City Marathon, and smaller places like Brooklyn Brewery's Tasting Room, and things of that nature. We have a 10-step criteria that we ask folks to go through to certify that there's a safe space. Some of that is ensuring you have a general-neutral bathroom on-site and support the community 365, not just during Pride. We have two training modules that conduct a 15-minute online course, with videos in English, Spanish, and Italian. Most of the staff need to take it to be certified as a safe space in addition to the biggest one – and, sometimes, the tricky one, which shouldn't be – is making sure you're not donating to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians. Also, a big one right now is ensuring you have a code of conduct posted and policies and procedures protecting LGBTQ+ and marginalized employees, which ties into DEI, which is under attack.

We funnel the money we make from those corporations and businesses out to grassroots organizations all over the globe. We've funded folks in Kenya, Uganda, and the U.S. We've funded folks in Tennessee, Mississippi, and North Carolina. There are tons of predominantly red states where it's still typically tough to be LGBTQ+ in 2025.

We're super proud of the work that we do. It was founded by myself and my partners who own the Stonewall Inn, and we felt like it was our responsibility to create a nonprofit to keep that Stonewall Inn legacy alive and at the forefront of the fight.

EDGE: When you need motivation, where do you turn to?

Stacy Lentz: It's tiring and tough. Our entire community faces burnout, because every time you turn on the news it's breaking news, and you're like, "Oh my God, what now?" I realized how lucky and blessed I am to have a platform, because many people don't have that luck and that blessing. I try to remember that I have this, and have it for a reason, and I know this is my purpose in life.

I look to the younger generation to get inspired. They want to fight, and even push us, the older generation, to be more progressive and more forward-thinking in our political thoughts. If you look back at any point in history, change has typically been made by a younger generation, pushing the older ones to think differently. Also, I like to have fun and find some joy whenever I can, and typically, that means gathering with friends in a safe space, dancing on a Friday night, and having some fun.

EDGE: How can allies support?

Stacy Lentz: Allies' support is super important. There's so much happening in the world today in terms of hate, whether that's online [or in real life]. Hate crimes are on the rise, and not just against the LGBTQ+, but all minorities. We are seeing it all over the globe. "If you're different, I hate you because a billionaire tells me to." They want to keep us poor and to hate each other so they can control us.

If allies could chime in and start using their voice to stand up and fight back when they can, that is what we need. The next time we get into an election cycle, let's make sure we're putting pro-LGBTQ+ people in office. This is essential when the president of the United States is essentially trying to erase an entire group of folks. So, show up and support trans folks whenever you can, but in general use your voice and your platform any chance you get to fight hate.

For more on the Stonewall Inn, visit its website.

For more on The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, click here.