With rainbow flags and a message of resistance, thousands of LGBTQ New Yorkers rallied Saturday in front of the Stonewall Inn against President Donald Trump's executive orders.
Demonstrators crowded near the historic gay rights bar a week after Trump issued an executive order banning people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. A judge temporarily blocked the ban Friday and the government has suspended enforcement of it.
"Let me remind people of why we're here," U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said. "The pioneers at Stonewall were alone, but they fought and fought and eventually they won. We are gonna do the same thing!"
Schumer led chants of "Dump Trump" from the podium as a rainbow flag waved behind him.
New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman said: "We are stronger today because you are out here today. The bottom line is that we must resist."
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Hoylman recalled the 1969 Stonewall Inn riots, when hundreds of gay New Yorkers rallied for equality in front of the iconic bar. He drew a parallel between the need to stand up for the rights of the marginalized then and now.
"It's so appropriate that we are at Stonewall today, because we are here to say we stand up to oppression just like our LGBT brothers and sisters stood up to oppression that fateful evening: June 28, 1969," he said, pumping his fist emphatically as the crowd cheered.
Singers performed a rendition of Dionne Warwick's "What the World Needs Now" to people waving rainbow flags and picket signs that read "Resist" in rainbow letters. Thin, white clouds escaped the mouths of demonstrators as they cheered the vocalists on.
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Demonstrations have taken place throughout the country since Trump took office just over two weeks ago. John F. Kennedy Airport has become a mainstay for rallies protesting the president's immigration ban.
Protests have also ignited at universities on both coasts. New York University students protested Thursday evening after conservative Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes was scheduled to speak on campus.
A federal judge in Washington state blocked Trump's executive order Friday. The government suspended enforcement of the refugee and immigration ban Saturday to appeal the judge's order.
