A look at the ntext and history of the Stonewall Rts and how the rebelln at the Stonewall Inn changed the history of gay rights.
Contents:
- THE STONEWALL RTS DIDN’T START THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
- REBEL WILSON’S SEXUALY: IS SHE GAY?
- THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
- THE GAY REBELLION
- THE GAY REBELLN
- NEW ‘GAY WATER’ LOOKS TO AVOID BUD LIGHT DISASTER
THE STONEWALL RTS DIDN’T START THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
The Stonewall Rts, also lled the Stonewall Uprisg, took place on June 28, 1969, New York Cy, after police raid the Stonewall Inn, a lol gay club. The raid sparked a rt among bar patrons and neighborhood rints as police hled employe and patrons out of the bar, leadg to six days of protts and vlent clash. The Stonewall Rts served as a talyst for the gay rights movement. * the gay rebellion *
A brief history of outgLong before queer people began g out themselv, their relatnships and inti were often weaponized by others, particularly throughout the 1950s and ’60s, when such outgs often led to people beg forcibly displaced om their hom, fired om their jobs or targets of the Stonewall uprisg 1969, however, some queer activists began outg fellow LGBTQ people themselv, eher as a way to expose hypocrisi, as wh anti-gay policians, or to ph equaly forward, as wh closeted celebri. But this me wh much ntroversy, as many activists disagreed wh the ia of outg, queer journalists ntued dog so well to the 1990s and 2000s — cludg Michelangelo Signorile, Michael Mto and later, blogger Perez, who was well known for puttg prsure on celebs like David Geffen, Mallm Forb, Jodie Foster, Richard Chamberla and Liz Smh to e out, spoke wh Yahoo Life last year about that era, explag that outg celebs was an attempt to normalize gay culture for the mass durg a time when LGBTQ people were vastly ignored the polil procs. “Gossip lumns readily lved to public figur’ personal liv and also their problems whout permissn, but those same lumnists nsired gay the last taboo — virtually unspeakable, ” Mto told Yahoo Life 2021 about what some now see as an outdated belief system.
REBEL WILSON’S SEXUALY: IS SHE GAY?
* the gay rebellion *
”DeGener has also spoken about the years of homophobia she experienced om fans and stud executiv after g out — a remr that wh the good the bad, Renna says, whether you are outed by others or yourself. The Stonewall Rts, also lled the Stonewall Uprisg, began the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a gay club loted Greenwich Village New York Cy. For stance, solicatn of same-sex relatns was illegal New York such reasons, LGBT dividuals flocked to gay bars and clubs, plac of refuge where they uld exprs themselv openly and socialize whout worry.
However, the New York State Liquor Authory penalized and shut down tablishments that served alhol to known or spected LGBT dividuals, argug that the mere gatherg of homosexuals was “disorrly. But engagg gay behavr public (holdg hands, kissg or dancg wh someone of the same sex) was still illegal, so police harassment of gay bars ntued and many bars still operated whout liquor licens— part bee they were owned by the Rights Before StonewallThe first documented U. Police raids forced them to disband 1925, but not before they had published several issu of their newsletter, “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter.
THE GAY LIBERATN MOVEMENT
The 1969 Stonewall Rts marked a historic turng pot for gay rights, but several smaller uprisgs preced Stonewall as LGBTQ muni phed back agast harassment and equaly. * the gay rebellion *
In 1966, three years before Stonewall, members of The Mattache Society, an anizatn dited to gay rights, staged a “sip-” where they openly clared their sexualy at taverns, darg staff to turn them away and sug tablishments who did. When The Commissn on Human Rights led that gay dividuals had the right to be served bars, police raids were temporarily Stonewall Inn The crime syndite saw prof terg to shunned gay clientele, and by the mid-1960s, the Genove crime fay ntrolled most Greenwich Village gay bars.
And was one of the few—if not the only—gay bar left that allowed were still a fact of life, but ually rpt ps would tip off Mafia-n bars before they occurred, allowg owners to stash the alhol (sold whout a liquor license) and hi other illegal activi. Stonewall's LegacyThough the Stonewall uprisg didn’t start the gay rights movement, was a galvanizg force for LGBT polil activism, leadg to numero gay rights anizatns, cludg the Gay Liberatn Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD (formerly Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn), and PFLAG (formerly Parents, Fai and Friends of Lbians and Gays) the one-year anniversary of the rts on June 28, 1970, thoands of people marched the streets of Manhattan om the Stonewall Inn to Central Park what was then lled “Christopher Street Liberatn Day, ” Ameri’s first gay pri para. ”In 2016, then-Print Barack Obama signated the se of the rts—Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, and the surroundg streets and siwalks—a natnal monument regnn of the area’s ntributn to gay Gallery The Stonewall Inn is a bar loted New York Cy’s Greenwich Village that served as a haven the 1960s for the cy’s gay, lbian and transgenr muny.
Most gay bars and clubs New York at the time were operated by the Mafia, who paid rptible police officers to look the other way and blackmailed wealthy gay patrons by threateng to “out” them. As -founr of the Gay Liberatn Front, Rivera was known for participatg the Stonewall Rts and tablishg the polil anizatn STAR (Street Transvte Actn Revolutnari).
THE GAY REBELLION
Stonewall rts, seri of vlent nontatns that began the early hours of June 28, 1969, between police and gay rights activists outsi the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar the Greenwich Village sectn of New York Cy. As the rts progrsed, an ternatnal gay rights movement was born. * the gay rebellion *
After the Stonewall Rts, a msage was pated on the outsi of the board-up bar readg, "We homosexuals plead wh out people to please help mata peaceful and quiet nduct on the streets of the village. " This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay unintified group of young people celebrate outsi the board-up Stonewall Inn after the rts. ”Over the next several nights, gay activists ntued to gather near the Stonewall, takg advantage of the moment to spread rmatn and build the muny that would fuel the growth of the gay rights movement.
Johnson is seen at a Gay Liberatn Front monstratn at Cy Hall New York, a large crowd memorat the 2nd anniversary of the Stonewall rts Greenwich Village of New York Cy 1971.
But there were gay activists before that early morng of June 28, 1969, prev rebellns of LGBTQ people agast police, earlier lls for “gay power, ” and earlier rts. The story of how this particular night and this particular bar me to signify global gay rebelln is a story of how llective memory works and how social movements anize to memorate their gas. Crage tail four prev police raids on gay bars ci across the Uned Stat that prompted activist rpons—and lol gas—but that eher fad om lol memory, did not spire memoratns that lasted, or did not motivate activists other ci.
THE GAY REBELLN
Patrons of the Stonewall Inn were rigned to police raids on gay bars. But on June 28, 1969, they risted a rebelln that changed history. * the gay rebellion *
For example, San Francis activists mobilized rponse to police raids on gay bars the early 1960s, which me to a head durg a raid on a New Year’s Eve ball 1965 that eventually brought down the police missner. The cy’s gay tablishment did not participate, however, and distanced themselv om the transgenr and street youths and their polil anizatn, Vanguard, behd the “vlent” prott. There was an annual monstratn for gay civil rights before Stonewall, however, and provis the bt example of how gay polics were growg and changg before the rts.
The “Annual Remrs” were the rult of ordatn by activists New York, Washgton, and Philalphia, evince of burgeong regnal operatn by gay rights activists the 1960s. The ordated march Los Angel, New York, and Chigo 1970 were the first gay pri paras, and sparked an ia that spread around the untry—to 116 ci the Uned Stat and 30 untri around the world.
As Armstrong and Crage have wrten, “whout the existence of homophile anizatns elsewhere, many of them found only the late 1960s, a natnal event would have been unthkable. ” Unlike the Annual Remr, which addrsed the state assertg the siary of homosexuals wh heterosexual cizens, para participants celebrated their differenc and aimed to change mds, not laws.
NEW ‘GAY WATER’ LOOKS TO AVOID BUD LIGHT DISASTER
Beg Asian Amerin and LGBTQ+ n feel lonely, wh stutns such as ethnic church often disavowg non-heterosexual relatnships while tradnal LGBTQ+ spac such as gay bars n be unwelg. * the gay rebellion *
As activists memorate the Stonewall Rts 2019, perhaps they should also lay plans for next year, to remember the fiftieth anniversary of the first gay pri para 2020.
Often lled the Stonewall Rebelln or the Stonewall Uprisg, the events that took place on June 28, 1969 would change how the gay muny was treated across the Uned Stat.
Every gay person who enjoys a life livg their tth whout havg to hi n give thanks to the men and women who put themselv at risk to show that they weren't gog to stand down and be mistreated. In the 1960s, homosexualy was still listed as a mental disorr by the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn and many people lost their jobs if they were spected of beg homosexual.