49th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

[PunkTheFunk 125,733]

Today (June 28th) marks the 49th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots -- "a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against a police raid that took place at the Stonewall Inn" in New York City. The riots are considered to be the birth of the modern gay rights movement. 

From Wikipedia:

"Gay Americans in the 1950s and 1960s faced an anti-gay legal system. [...] Cities performed "sweeps" to rid neighborhoods, parks, bars, and beaches of gay people. They outlawed the wearing of opposite gender clothes, and universities expelled instructors suspected of being homosexual. Thousands of gay men and women were publicly humiliated, physically harassed, fired, jailed, or institutionalized in mental hospitals. Many lived double lives, keeping their private lives secret from their professional ones.

In 1952, the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as a mental disorder. 

(Above: a photo that appeared on the front page of the New York Times in the 1950s of young gay men who were "caught" in Times Square)

Very few establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1950s and 1960s. Those that did were often bars, although bar owners and managers were rarely gay. At the time, the Stonewall Inn was owned by the Mafia. It catered to an assortment of patrons and was known to be popular among the poorest and most marginalized people in the gay community: drag queens, transgender people, effeminate young men, butch lesbians, male prostitutes, and homeless youth.

At 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, June 28, 1969, four plainclothes policemen in dark suits, two patrol officers in uniform, and Detective Charles Smythe and Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine arrived at the Stonewall Inn's double doors and announced "Police! We're taking the place!"

The music was turned off and the main lights were turned on. Approximately 205 people were in the bar that night. Patrons who had never experienced a police raid were confused. A few who realized what was happening began to run for doors and windows in the bathrooms, but police barred the doors. 

The raid did not go as planned. Standard procedure was to line up the patrons, check their identification, and have female police officers take customers dressed as women to the bathroom to verify their sex, upon which any men dressed as women would be arrested. Those dressed as women that night refused to go with the officers. Men in line began to refuse to produce their identification.

(History.com):

Fed up with constant police harassment and social discrimination, angry patrons and neighborhood residents hung around outside of the bar rather than disperse, becoming increasingly agitated as the events unfolded and people were aggressively manhandled. At one point, an officer hit a lesbian [Stormé DeLarverie] over the head as he forced her into the paddy wagon — she shouted to onlookers to act, inciting the crowd to begin throw pennies, bottles, cobble stones, and other objects at the police.

(Above: Stormé DeLarverie, whose "scuffle with the police was the defining moment that incited the Stonewall riots, spurring the crowd to action" - Wiki)

Within minutes, a full-blown riot involving hundreds of people began. The police, a few prisoners, and a Village Voice writer barricaded themselves in the bar, which the mob attempted to set on fire after breaching the barricade repeatedly.

[Other noted members of the LGBT community who were at the riots include Marsha P Johnson (left) and Sylvia Rivera (right). The two remained on the front lines of the fight for gay and trans rights]

The fire department and a riot squad were eventually able to douse the flames, rescue those inside Stonewall, and disperse the crowd. But the protests, sometimes involving thousands of people, continued in the area for five more days, flaring up at one point after the Village Voice published its account of the riots.

In 2016, President Barack Obama designated the site of the riots—Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, and the surrounding streets and sidewalks—a national monument in recognition of the area’s contribution to gay and human rights.

[tomsches 17,563]

thank you for fighting for our rights

[PunkTheFunk 125,733]

Also, no one died at Stonewall

[River 128,617]

It's all thanks to them that we can be free, there's a long way to go, but at least we are on the way..

So thank you for throwing the first brick.

[Diamond Monster 299]

LGBT's are so iconic, only we can have riots without anyone getting killed.

[Nicogly 2,579]

marsha p johnson and marsha p johnson. we love a double faced legend

[PunkTheFunk 125,733]

38 minutes ago, Nicogly said:

marsha p johnson and marsha p johnson. we love a double faced legend

Fixed