- From left: Honoree Cathy Marino-Thomas, Dru Levasseur, Martin Duberman, Robert Reid-Pharr, Ann Northrop and Borough President Stringer. (photo by Andre Beckles/CUNY)

More than 500 guests attended a panel discussion on the future of the gay rights movement, sponsored by Borough President Stringer and the City University of New York.

The event, Stonewall: The Fight After 40, A Panel Discussion on the Future of the Gay Rights Movement , included five experts and activists who discussed the impact of the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and the future of the movement in the midst of the marriage equality debate.

The panelists included Martin Duberman, who founded the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center; Ann Northrop, journalist, activist and co-host of Gay USA; Dru Levasseur, a staff attorney at the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund; Robert Reid-Pharr, critical essayist and professor at the CUNY Graduate Center; and Honoree Cathy Marino-Thomas, former executive director of Marriage Equality New York.

This discussion was more than a celebration of past success. It was a serious look forward, focusing on the current issues facing the movement, including the legalization of same-sex marriage, the amelioration of healthcare access for transgender individuals, and the improvement of safety in schools and the work place for the LGBT community.

The future and the work still to be done were clearly the main focus of the evening. “There has been a lot of talk this week with the power plays up in Albany and what that means for the future of marriage equality,” said Borough President Stringer. “That is why we are here commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and their impact on our country and discussing the future of the gay rights movement... This is a call to action: nothing is radically different today from what it was last week, but we have got to make sure that tomorrow is radically different from today.”

(photos by Andre Beckles/CUNY)