Stonewall and the Unfished Gay Revolutn | Origs

Contents:

• HOW THE STONEWALL RTS CHANGED THE COURSE OF THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• STONEWALL AND THE UNFISHED GAY REVOLUTN

HOW THE STONEWALL RTS CHANGED THE COURSE OF THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

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.

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. 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.

STONEWALL AND THE UNFISHED GAY REVOLUTN

”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. 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.

”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. 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. 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.

The pk triangle was -opted om the Nazis and reclaimed as a badge of Imag<em>Homosexual prisoners at the ncentratn mp at Sachsenhsen, Germany, wearg pk triangl on their uniforms on December 19, 1938. McDarrah/Getty ImagAfter pourg their drks, a bartenr Juli's Bar ref to serve John Timms, Dick Lesch, Craig Rodwell, and Randy Wicker, members of the Mattache Society who were prottg New York liquor laws that prevented servg gay ctomers, 1966, three members of the Mattache Society, an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay rights, staged a “sip-”—a twist on the “s-” protts of the 1960s.

But between New York’s LGBTQ muny the 1960s beg forced to live on the outskirts of society and the Mafia’s disregard for the law, the two beme a profable, if uneasy, State Liquor Authory and the New York Police Department regularly raid bars that tered to gay patrons.

“Fat Tony, ” purchased the Stonewall Inn 1966 and transformed to a gay bar and operate the Stonewall and s other gay bars, the Mafia bribed the NYPD to turn a bld eye to the “cent nduct” occurrg behd closed doors. On the night of the Stonewall Rts, police barrid themselv si 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. " This sign was wrten by the Mattache Society–an early anizatn dited to fightg for gay reportg the events, The New York Daily News rorted to homophobic slurs s tailed verage, nng the headle: “Homo Nt Raid, Queen Be Are Stgg Mad.

Five months after the rts, activists proposed a rolutn at the Eastern Regnal Conference of Homophile Organizatns Philalphia that a march be held New York Cy to memorate the one-year anniversary of the raid.

History & CultureExplaerA June 1969 police raid of the New York bar epted to a days-long rebelln that l a fire unr the fight for LGBTQ 1969, police raids of gay bars Manhattan followed a template. By the 1960s, homosexualy was clilly classified as a mental disorr, and most municipali the Uned Stat had discrimatory laws that forba same-sex relatnships and nied basic rights to anyone spected of beg gay. Loted Greenwich Village, the heart of gay life New York at the time, s patrons were among the most margalized members of New York’s LGBTQ muny—cludg unraged and unhoed dividuals, people of lor, and drag performers.

The movement stoked by the police raid Greenwich Village soon spread to ci across the 1970, a year after the raid, activists led by Craig Rodwell memorated s anniversary wh what they lled Christopher Street Liberatn Day, now regnized as the first gay pri march.

New York's Stonewall rts of 1969 saw members of the LGBTQ muny clash wh police what's wily known as the talyst for the morn gay rights Stonewall rts put gay rights on the map — but when the first shot glass was thrown, nobody volved knew they were gog to alter the urse of history. The statistics for erasure of queer characters are particularly bleak: after analyzg seven years of film and 4, 610 speakg characters, there were only 19 gay characters reprented and zero transgenr characters.

1965: Philalphia – Dewey’s Rtrant S-InDewey's rtrant Philalphia, Pennsylvania as appeared May April 25, 1965, the 17th Street lotn of Dewey’s rtrant Philalphia nied service to approximately 150 people who appeared to be gay or genr non-nformg. McDarrah/Getty ImagAfter pourg their drks, a bartenr Juli's Bar ref to serve John Timms, Dick Lesch, Craig Rodwell, and Randy Wicker, members of the Mattache Society who were prottg New York liquor laws that prevented servg gay ctomers, 1966. McDarrah/Getty Imag)In sprg 1966, members of the early gay rights anizatn Mattache Society staged a “sip-”—a twist on “s-” prott— which they vised taverns, clared themselv gay, and waed to be turned away so they uld sue.

1966–1967: Los Angel – Black Cat Tavern Protts, Los AngelOpened November 1966, Black Cat Tavern was a haven for Silver Lake’s queer muny, who were subjected to harassment om police enforcg anti-homosexualy laws. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The gay rights movement was already takg spiratn om Ain-Amerins fightg for civil rights the 1960s, explas Marc Ste, a history profsor at San Francis State Universy and thor of The Stonewall Rts: A Documentary History. There is ongog bate about whether the role of transgenr people and people of lor has been mimized while the narrative of ristance they set motn has benefed whe gay men, and about whether pri march have bee too rporate.