In September 2024, participants in AGI’s project “Building LGBTQ+ Communities in Germany and the United States: Past, Present, and Future” traveled to New York City for site visits and discussions about queer activism and rights, including a trip to the Stonewall National Monument. In 1969, the Stonewall riots against police harassment and brutality launched what would become an international movement for LGBTQ+ rights. Two participants, Phuong Tran and Lennart Linke, join the Zeitgeist to reflect on how Stonewall impacted the LGBTQ+ movement globally, how it influenced German and American culture, and why historical memory is important when addressing today’s civil rights challenges.



Guest Host

Eric Langenbacher, AGI Senior Fellow; Director, Society, Culture & Politics Program

Guests

Phuong Tran, Managing Community & Coalition Storyteller, American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia

Lennart Linke, Activist, Heidelberg LGBT Network



Transcript

Eric Langenbacher

Welcome, everybody, to the American-German Institute’s Zeitgeist podcast. I’m Dr. Eric Langenbacher. I am a senior fellow and the director of the Society, Culture & Politics program here at AGI, and I will be the host of this podcast today. This is our first podcast with the second cohort of our building LGBTQ+ communities project and I’m really, really pleased to introduce two of our participants who will be talking about the aftermath of Stonewall. So, from the United States, we have Phuong Tran who is the managing community and coalition storyteller at the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. She manages the ACLU storytelling program and works with a variety of clients, partners, supporters, community members, and the creative community in Virginia on multiple storytelling projects covering issues like LGBTQ+ rights, criminal legal reform, reproductive freedom, and voting rights. And then from Germany, we have Lennart Linke, who is a LGBTQ+ rights activist who lives in Heidelberg, Germany. His main goals in his activism have been to build resilient communities and learn from historic perspectives, develop strategies to preserve and strengthen queer rights in the future. He’s hosted panel discussions with City Council members and created a guide on candidate stances on LGBTQ+ issues in the Council elections. Beyond his activism, he recently received his master’s degree in molecular biotechnology at Heidelberg University and is moving towards a research career in cancer biology. So welcome, Phuong and Lennart. And to start things off, we’ll have Lennart start by giving us some details on what Stonewall was and its aftermath. Lennart.

Lennart Linke

Hi Eric, thanks for having us. So during the first part of our excursion to New York City, we visited the Stonewall National Monument. And as a quick background—I think most of the listeners will be familiar with it—the Stonewall riots took place in June 1969 and were a big pushback against persecution and police brutality in New York City against queer people, and in modern day it’s widely considered to be a catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement of course, in the United States, but also in other Western countries. And in 2016, the Stonewall Inn, which was the bar where this major riot happened, was designated a national monument by the Obama administration to recognize its significance in American history and culture, and it’s the first American monument dedicated to the queer civil rights movement.

Eric Langenbacher

Phuong, anything you’d like to add?

Phuong Tran

Thank you, Lennart, for the quick overview,