The Stonewall Riots are iconic in the history of LGBTQ+ rights, and as such, it’s highly likely that everyone reading this has at least a passing knowledge of the event. But many portrayals of the riots actually gloss over or outright ignore the contributions of trans people, women, and POC (looking at you, Stonewall)
In order to understand the reasons for the Stonewall Riots, we need to understand what it was like for LGBTQ+ people in the years prior, so let’s take an incredibly short trip through the early 20th century. Fair warning, you’ll probably want to punch the screen.
Basically, identifying as LGBTQ+ was illegal in all but one US state by the time of the Stonewall Riots, and it was also considered a mental illness which could be ‘treated’ with castration, lobotomies, and electroshock therapy. Even WW2 vets who identified as LGBTQ+ didn’t get the respect they deserved, many gay/bi servicemen (particularly MOC) were given blue discharges; which were technically neither honourable or dishonourable but in reality, barred them from receiving the benefits of the GI bill.
So gay men and lesbians set up their own organisations, The Mattachine Society and The Daughters of Bilitis respectively, as social clubs for their local communities but they quickly spread across the country and became hotbeds for LGBTQ+ activism.
Stonewall
The Stonewall Inn was a mafia-run gay bar in New York City, which was raided by police on June 28, 1969, under the pretence of not having a proper alcohol license. However, the police never really needed an excuse to raid gay bars at that time.
During raids, the police would check that people were wearing at least four items of gender-appropriate clothing and if there was any doubt on the person’s gender, police would inspect their genitals (wtf?).
Most LGBTQ+ people would attempt to leave bars during police raids, because at the time, being gay was only legal in one state: Illinois. Being outed would not only result in discrimination, but likely prosecution.
Given that there is no footage of the riot, there are several conflicting eyewitness accounts about who was there and who threw the first brick at the police, but one thing is certain, this night was different.
The patrons refused to hand over their IDs and fought back against police who tried to inspect their genitals. The police reacted violently; groping and beating the patrons. When Storme DeLarverie (a lesbian of color) complained that her handcuffs were too tight, they hit her on the head with a baton and she pleaded with those around to help.
Someone then threw a brick at the police and Marsha P. Johnson (a trans WOC) threw a shot glass. This became known as the shot glass heard round the world.
As news of the riot spread, more people arrived and the police barricaded themselves, along with some patrons, inside the Stonewall Inn.
At the time, the Stonewall Inn was where the most marginalized of the marginalized gathered; people of color, trans people, homeless youth. The patrons at the Stonewall Inn accepted them, gave them a community, a home. The patrons fought for Stonewall because it represented the only thing they had to lose: each other.
Post-Stonewall
In the decades following Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ rights movement became more radical, advocating overthrowing the system rather than trying to exist within it. Basically, if you wanted us to be nice, you should have been nicer to us.
The Gay Liberation Front advocated the overthrow of capitalism, the use of militant tactics to fight oppression, and the right to take pride in their sexuality and allied themselves with other anti-oppression movements like black power and women’s liberation.
While Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR), formed by Stonewall rioters Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera (a trans-WOC) protested prison conditions, housing and workplace discrimination, discriminatory legal practices and police harassment.
In June 1970, Craig Rodwell organized the first Pride March from Sixth Avenue to the Stonewall Inn. The message was clear: We aren’t going back into the closet.
It wasn’t all plain sailing from here on out for LGBTQ+ rights. While some gains were made, like eventually legalizing love and equal marriage, our community also faced some massive roadblocks from social conservatives and the Religious Right who tried to demonize us at every turn, especially during the AIDS crisis.
In 2015, the Stonewall Inn was designated an NYC landmark for its contribution to LGBTQ+ history; the first landmark to be honored in this way.
The issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community in the USA weren’t fixed overnight and regrettably many are here today but this was a huge moment in our history and we owe more than we can ever imagine to those brave men, women, and non-binary folks who risked their freedom to give us ours. We’ve come a long way, since 1969, but we sure as hell have a long way to go.
The Stonewall Riots occurred was when the lit match of standing up for your rights and the rights of others fell on the oily trash of how governmental institutions treat(ed) LGBTQ+ people, but now it is up to us to keep the flame burning. Who’s with me?
Pingback: 5 incredible LGBTQ+ films based on a True Story