THE STONEWALL RIOTS
The Stonewall Riots were a series of demonstrations advocating against the violence of the police brutality towards the LGBTQ+ community.
Trigger warning - this page contains violent descriptions, imagery, police brutality, homophobia, hate crimes, violence and rioting.
The Stonewall riots began on on June 28th, 1969. At the time, the LGBTQ+ people in America were having to struggle with a homophobic law enforcement justice system.
After World War Two, Americans wanted to restore social order and fight off any aspect of change, after the chaos of the war. Anarchists, Communists, LGBTQ+ - and essentially anyone who was considered non conforming to the ideal American culture was alienated and discriminated against.
Between 1947 and 1950, 1,700 federal job applications were denied, 4,380 people were discharged from the military and 420 were fired from their government jobs due to being suspected of being homosexuals.
The FBI and law enforcement would have lists of suspected homosexuals, their workplaces, and their friends. They would then raid places like gay bars, arresting and usually beating the people inside, before exposing them in newspapers. Cities would carry out "sweeps" of cafes, beaches, schools, bars, cinemas, in an attempt to discover and arrest the LGBTQ+ community. It even got to the point where it was outlawed to wear clothes associated with the opposite gender.
The Stonewall Inn, located at 51 and 53 Christopher Street was owned by the Genovese Crime Family. In 1966, the Mafia invested money to turn the Stonewall Inn into a gay bar. It was a highly secretive club, due to the criminal nature. It did not have a liquor licence, allowed dancing, and was a gay bar. In order to get in you either had to know the bouncer or you had to "look gay." The bar would have pulsing gel or black lights, which would go white if an undercover police officer entered - signalling to everyone to stop dancing and touching. The bar was filled with a variety of people - drag queens, gay men, lesbians. It was known around town as "the gay bar in the city."
Police raids on bars were common, and on Saturday, June 28th, 1969, at 1:20 AM, the police raided Stonewall Inn.
"Things happened so fast you kind of got caught not knowing. All of a sudden there were police there and we were told to get in lines and to have our identification ready." - Michael Fader
The raid did not go as planned. People refused to give identification, refused to get into lines, refused to get arrested.
"My biggest fear was that I would get arrested. My second biggest fear is that my picture would be in a newspaper or television report." - Maria Ritter
The police decided to manhandle everyone out in an attempt to take everyone down to the station. They were violent and sexually abusive towards the women. An uncomfortable and tense atmosphere began to rise and crowds of 100-150 started to congregate and watch the scene. The police forcefully pushed, kicked and shoved people onto the road outside the bar. By the time the patrol wagon arrived, the crowd had grown to at least ten times the number of people who had been arrested. A bystander yelled "Gay power!" While another started chanting "We Shall Overcome!" The crowds growing hostility filled the atmosphere.
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A policeman then shoved a transgender woman. This was met by a series of boos from the crowd. The woman responded by hitting him with her purse. This ignited a series of pennies and beer bottles being hurled at the wagons. Stormé DeLarverie, a young lesbian woman, was escorted out of the bar in handcuffs. She kicked and screamed and struggled to get free, and let out the final yell to the crowd of "Why don't you guys do something?!"
And the riot began.
"We had a collective feeling as if we had had enough of this."
"Everyone in the crowd felt like we were never going to go back."
"It was like the last straw."
"It was time to reclaim something that had been taken from us."
"It was total outrage, anger, sorrow and everything combined."
"We felt like we had freedom at last. Or freedom to at least show that we demanded freedom."
"There was something in the air, a freedom long overdue. And we were going to fight for it."
"It was one of the greatest moments of my life"
"Now, times were changing."
"Now its our turn!"
"We were really trying to get back in and break free."
"We weren't going to be walking meekly in the night and letting them shove us around"
"Its like standing your ground for the first time and in a really strong way. That is what caught the police by surprise."
"It was just kind of like everything over the years had come to a head on that particular night in that particular place."
"The bottom line was, we weren't going to go away. And we didn't."
"The cops were totally humiliated."
The tactical patrol force were called out to back up the police. They formed a phalanx and attempted to march forward and push the crowd back. The crowd fought back.
"This had never happened before."
"No group had ever forced the police back before."
"I mean, the police wanted to kill."
Witnesses reported seeing the police beat people with bats, and chase them down the streets, only for a few seconds later, the people to chase the police back.
One rioter recounted how "the police rushed at us" and then how he was "got in the back with a nightstick." Another stated "I couldn't get the site out my mind." and goes on to say "I think that is when I felt rage, because people were getting smashed with bats." Many described the "electricity in the air" and how it felt like "there were a lot of gay people y'know... and this was our street." By 4:00 AM the streets had almost entirely been cleared. Many people had gathered, dazed and shocked at the events of the night before. Thirteen had been arrested and many sent to hospital. The New York Times, The New York Post and The Daily Mail had all published the events - with the Daily Mail featuring it as a cover piece. Stonewall Inn walls had been spray painted on with slogans like "Drag Power", "They invaded our rights", "Support gay power", "Legalise gay bars." Thousands of people had gathered in front of Stonewall Inn. Cars and buses started to harass the protestors, swinging back and forth as if threatening to run them over. Some climbed onto lampposts, and others started to smash a police car. Soon, the police arrived and a divide was starting to form once again. Some started to get arrested, and the crowd surged to save them. The TPF arrived and the riot was reignited at 4:00 AM.
The riots continued to last for six days.
The Stonewall Riots ignited the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement on a massive scale. It inspired many more movements to come, such as the Gay Liberation Front, the Gay Activists Alliance, and Gay Pride. A year later, the first ever gay pride celebration was held to remember the events of Stonewall. Police brutality and violence was finally punished, and the community and its allies were brought together in a furious revolt, a revolution against the concept that any kind of love should be illegal.
"Certainly it was the birth of gay pride on a massive scale."
