New York, New York - Museum founders in New York have broken ground on a site set to become an LGBTQ+ museum, planning to open in 2024.

The American LGBTQ+ Museum is an expansion of the previous New-York Historical Society building at 77th Street and Central Park West, and will be the first US museum dedicated to queer history and culture.

It aims to tell the stories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people and said it will be "colorful, lively, immersive, and exploratory, running counter to common conceptions of museums."

"We are so happy that the museum has found a home," former professional tennis player and activist Billie Jean King said at the Tuesday groundbreaking event. "It's our time, for our American LGBTQ+ community, to tell our stories."

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The whole world will take notice of this museum, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "People will come from literally every corner of the world to learn, to be educated, to be inspired, to remember that, yes, a change can come, and it did here in New York City."

NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson spoke at the event on Tuesday from a place of personal experience.

"As the first openly gay man and HIV+ person to be NYC Council Speaker, it was an honor to be at @LGBTQ_Museum’s groundbreaking ceremony," he tweeted afterwards. "Without the stories of our pioneers, I wouldn't be who I am today. They're what will continue the LGBTQ movement, and I can't wait to see it."

Founded in the early 19th century, the Historical Society is primarily dedicated to the history of metropolitan New York.

The 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York are widely considered the birth of the modern gay rights movement. Patrons resisted a police raid at the popular gay bar the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in Manhattan's Greenwich Village.

Every year, parades around the world celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and their resistance to discrimination. New York hosts some of the biggest festivities during Pride Month every June.