Vlence at gay bars and the police – Greggor Mattson

Contents:

• HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE
• WHAT ARE THE STONEWALL RTS? HOW A GAY BAR RAID STARTED AN UPRISG AND LGBTQ2 PRI
• US WHE SUPREMACISTS FOUND GUILTY OF GAY PRI RT PLOT
• THE STONEWALL RTS DIDN’T START THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• 30 INFAMO POLICE RAIDS OF GAY BARS AND BATHHO

HOW THE MOB HELPED ESTABLISH NYC’S GAY BAR SCENE

Stonewall rts, also lled Stonewall uprisg, 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. One such well-known gatherg place for young gay men, lbians, and transgenr people was the Stonewall Inn Greenwich Village, a dark, seedy, crowd bar, reportedly operatg whout a liquor license.

WHAT ARE THE STONEWALL RTS? HOW A GAY BAR RAID STARTED AN UPRISG AND LGBTQ2 PRI

Olr groups such as the Mattache Society, which was found southern California as a discsn group for gay men and had flourished the 1950s, soon ma way for more radil groups such as the Gay Liberatn Front (GLF) and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA). In addn to lnchg numero public monstratns to prott the lack of civil rights for gay dividuals, the anizatns often rorted to such tactics as public nontatns wh polil officials and the disptn of public meetgs to challenge and to change the mor of the tim.

Image source, NY Daily News Archive / GettyImage ptn, Tensns rose on the street after the raidWhen half a dozen police officers raid a Mafia-n gay bar on a hot New York night 50 years ago, ltle did they know their actns would spark a movement that rhaped the liv of generatns to didn't throw a brick that night.

US WHE SUPREMACISTS FOUND GUILTY OF GAY PRI RT PLOT

An hour earlier, the police had raid the bar Greenwich Village for the send time that week, but this time on a Friday night at 1am when was 200 ctomers - lbians, gay men, transgenr people, naway teenagers and drag queens - were thrown out on to Christopher Street. Gay people were ed to nng om the police, but this time they were the on on the advance and the men uniform on the gay rights movement didn't start that night but was vigorated by what happened the hours and days after the first was thrown. And jt as Ms Parks' refal to give up her seat on a b Alabama to a whe man had the effect of animatg the civil rights movement 14 years before, so Stonewall electrified the ph for gay equaly.

Even what you wore was policed - fewer than three piec of clothg emed appropriate to your genr uld put you was a huge amount of anger bee gay people had no polil power to prevent this, says William Eskridge, a profsor at Yale Law School. But s creatn marked the start of a new era, leadg to a wave of new activist groups like the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) and the radil lbian group Lavenr Menace of which Shelley was a founr member. In the that followed, the feral exclns on gays and lbians were lifted, and the medil profsn reversed s long-held belief that homosexuals need psychiatric Milk beme one of the first openly gay elected officials the US, 1977 San Francis.

THE STONEWALL RTS DIDN’T START THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Two years later, about 100, 000 people took part a natnal march on Washgton - probably at that pot the biggt gatherg of gay people of the anti-sodomy laws were stck down the 1980s, makg homosexualy effectively legal, although was s before gay marriage beme a ferally-regnised right 2015.

The legal progrs was matched by a change attus - three-quarters of Amerins are today acceptg of gay 2019, there are still battl to fight - gay people n still be fired om their jobs many stat. It's therefore worth reflectg on how much me out of that police raid on a Mafia bar, says David Carter, thor of Stonewall: The Rts that Sparked the Gay Revolutn, which is regard as the five acunt of what happened. "Image source, Getty ImagImage ptn, The Natnal March On Washgton filled the famo mallIt wasn't the first gay uprisg agast the police - as the LA Tim recently relled, the police were pelted wh donuts 10 years earlier - but was the most nsequential.

"Image source, New York Public LibraryImage ptn, Segal (on right) mpaigng wh the Gay Liberatn Front 1970, a year after the uprisgBut Stonewall wasn't jt a fight, was a spir and gave him a purpose, he says.

30 INFAMO POLICE RAIDS OF GAY BARS AND BATHHO

Or, as they were known, "zaps" 1973, he crashed the CBS primetime news show hosted by broadstg legend Walter Cronke and watched by 60 ln people, holdg a plard sayg: "Gays prott CBS prejudice". Image source, Mark SegalImage ptn, Segal crashed a Nixon fundraiser 1972He went on to lnch a gay newspaper Philalphia and bee a pneer gay journalism, and his work on equaly earned him an dience wh Print Barack Obama.

But there were pickets, protts—even rts— the years before June 28, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall rts, when a raid on a New York Cy gay bar led to rto prott by people fed up wh beg harassed, discrimated agast and jailed simply for who they were or who they the 1960s, New York Cy stepped up efforts to close gay bars and entrap homosexual men. Army Buildg at 39 Whehall Street Downtown New York, which had been an Armed Forc Examatn and Entrance Statn sce group, led by Randy Wicker and members of the Sexual Freedom League, monstrated agast the ary's discrimatory polici and the outg of homosexual men rejected for would be 47 years before the U. Other ECHO monstratns that sprg took place ont of the Pentagon and the State May 21, Armed Forc Day, 35 people walked a send picket le at the Whe Hoe, prottg the excln of homosexuals om the ary, the dishonorable discharg given to those who were disvered and the "ntug refal by the Departments of Defense, Army, Navy, and Air Force to meet wh spokmen for the homosexual muny to engage nstctive discsn of the polici and procr at issue.