I would get in the back of the car and they would say, "We're going to go see faggots." And the cops got that. Transcript Enlarge this image To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, activists rode their motorcycles during the city's 1989 gay-pride parade. The term like "authority figures" wasn't used back then, there was just "Lily Law," "Patty Pig," "Betty Badge." Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen Gay History Papers and Photographs, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And by the time the police would come back towards Stonewall, that crowd had gone all the around Washington Place come all the way back around and were back pushing in on them from the other direction and the police would wonder, "These are the same people or different people?". and someone would say, "Well, they're still fighting the police, let's go," and they went in. Obama signed the memorandum to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. So in every gay pride parade every year, Stonewall lives. Judith Kuchar All of the rules that I had grown up with, and that I had hated in my guts, other people were fighting against, and saying "No, it doesn't have to be this way.". Eric Marcus, Writer:It was incredibly hot. The severity of the punishment varies from state to state. Jerry Hoose:The open gay people that hung out on the streets were basically the have-nothing-to-lose types, which I was. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:As much as I don't like to say it, there's a place for violence. Martin Boyce:Well, in the front part of the bar would be like "A" gays, like regular gays, that didn't go in any kind of drag, didn't use the word "she," that type, but they were gay, a hundred percent gay. NBC News Archives It was done in our little street talk. His movements are not characteristic of a real boy. National History Archive, LGBT Community Center Naturally, you get careless, you fall for it, and the next thing you know, you have silver bracelets on both arms. Frank Kameny Interviewer (Archival):What type of laws are you after? It must have been terrifying for them. Mafia house beer? Narrator (Archival):We arrested homosexuals who committed their lewd acts in public places. Martin Boyce:It was thrilling. Martin Boyce:I wasn't labeled gay, just "different." At least if you had press, maybe your head wouldn't get busted. Detective John Sorenson, Dade County Morals & Juvenile Squad (Archival):There may be some in this auditorium. Narrated by Rita Mae Brownan acclaimed writer whose 1973 novel Rubyfruit Jungle is a seminal lesbian text, but who is possessed of a painfully grating voiceBefore Stonewall includes vintage news footage that makes it clear that gay men and women lived full, if often difficult, lives long before their personal ambitions (however modest) On June 27, 1969, police raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York. Genre: Documentary, History, Drama. Stonewall Uprising | American Experience | PBS The lights came on, it's like stop dancing. We didn't expect we'd ever get to Central Park. TV Host (Archival):Ladies and gentlemen, the reason for using first names only forthese very, very charming contestants is that right now each one of them is breaking the law. You were alone. This was the first time I could actually sense, not only see them fearful, I could sense them fearful. Patricia Yusah, Marketing and Communications And it was those loudest people, the most vulnerable, the most likely to be arrested, were the ones that were doing the real fighting. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:All of a sudden, in the background I heard some police cars. Everyone from the street kids who were white and black kids from the South. Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. John O'Brien:If a gay man is caught by the police and is identified as being involved in what they called lewd, immoral behavior, they would have their person's name, their age and many times their home address listed in the major newspapers. And there was like this tension in the air and it just like built and built. Getty Images David Alpert Calling 'em names, telling 'em how good-looking they were, grabbing their butts. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:There were gay bars all over town, not just in Greenwich Village. But as visibility increased, the reactions of people increased. It was a down at a heels kind of place, it was a lot of street kids and things like that. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:I had a column inThe Village Voicethat ran from '66 all the way through '84. This Restored Documentary Examines What LGBTQ Lives Were Like Before Danny Garvin:We were talking about the revolution happening and we were walking up 7th Avenue and I was thinking it was either Black Panthers or the Young Lords were going to start it and we turned the corner from 7th Avenue onto Christopher Street and we saw the paddy wagon pull up there. Clever. The mirrors, all the bottles of liquor, the jukebox, the cigarette machines. "We're not going.". Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries Dick Leitsch:There were Black Panthers and there were anti-war people. Fred Sargeant:Three articles of clothing had to be of your gender or you would be in violation of that law. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. And we all relaxed. Fifty years ago, a riot broke out at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village. It eats you up inside. Fred Sargeant:The press did refer to it in very pejorative terms, as a night that the drag queens fought back. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:At the peak, as many as 500 people per year were arrested for the crime against nature, and between 3- and 5,000 people per year arrested for various solicitation or loitering crimes. The film combined personal interviews, snapshots and home movies, together with historical footage. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:That night I'm in my office, I looked down the street, and I could see the Stonewall sign and I started to see some activity in front. And we were singing: "We are the Village girls, we wear our hair in curls, we wear our dungarees, above our nellie knees." Doric Wilson:That's what happened Stonewall night to a lot of people. I learned, very early, that those horrible words were about me, that I was one of those people. Dick Leitsch:And that's when you started seeing like, bodies laying on the sidewalk, people bleeding from the head. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world. I was in the Navy when I was 17 and it was there that I discovered that I was gay. They'd think I'm a cop even though I had a big Jew-fro haircut and a big handlebar mustache at the time. and I didn't see anything but a forest of hands. It was the only time I was in a gladiatorial sport that I stood up in. ", Martin Boyce:People in the neighborhood, the most unlikely people were starting to support it. And then there were all these priests ranting in church about certain places not to go, so you kind of knew where you could go by what you were told not to do. People cheer while standing in front of The Stonewall Inn as the annual Gay Pride parade passes, Sunday, June 26, 2011 in New York. But we had to follow up, we couldn't just let that be a blip that disappeared. All kinds of designers, boxers, big museum people. The Laramie Project Cast at The Calhoun School John O'Brien:In the Civil Rights Movement, we ran from the police, in the peace movement, we ran from the police. They can be anywhere. On this episode, the fight for gay rights before Stonewall. Oddball Film + Video, San Francisco He pulls all his men inside. Revisiting the newly restored "Before Stonewall" 35 years after its premiere, Rosenberg said he was once again struck by its "powerful" and "acutely relevant" narrative. Historic Films Creating the First Visual History of Queer Life Before Stonewall Making a landmark documentary about LGBTQ Americans before 1969 meant digging through countless archives to find traces of. Urban Stages Alan Lechner There are a lot of kids here. TV Host (Archival):And Sonia is that your own hair? There were occasions where you did see people get night-sticked, or disappear into a group of police and, you know, everybody knew that was not going to have a good end. Danny Garvin:It was a chance to find love. Doric Wilson:And we were about 100, 120 people and there were people lining the sidewalks ahead of us to watch us go by, gay people, mainly. I hope it was. Jerry Hoose:And we were going fast. And Dick Leitsch, who was the head of the Mattachine Society said, "Who's in favor?" Maureen Jordan Doing things like that. Raymond Castro:There were mesh garbage cans being lit up on fire and being thrown at the police. But the . But everybody knew it wasn't normal stuff and everyone was on edge and that was the worst part of it because you knew they were on edge and you knew that the first shot that was fired meant all the shots would be fired. Slate:The Homosexual(1967), CBS Reports. If there had been a riot of that proportion in Harlem, my God, you know, there'd have been cameras everywhere. Not even us. Doug Cramer Gay bars were to gay people what churches were to blacks in the South. National Archives and Records Administration And I think it's both the alienation, also the oppression that people suffered. I am not alone, there are other people that feel exactly the same way.". The cops were barricaded inside. I never believed in that. And the police escalated their crackdown on bars because of the reelection campaign. Narrator (Archival):Richard Enman, president of the Mattachine Society of Florida, whose goal is to legalize homosexuality between consenting adults, was a reluctant participant in tonight's program. There may be some here today that will be homosexual in the future. Hear more of the conversation and historical interviews at the audio link. And you felt bad that you were part of this, when you knew they broke the law, but what kind of law was that? Amber Hall Narrator (Archival):Do you want your son enticed into the world of homosexuals, or your daughter lured into lesbianism? Narrator (Archival):This involves showing the gay man pictures of nude males and shocking him with a strong electric current. For the first time, we weren't letting ourselves be carted off to jails, gay people were actually fighting back just the way people in the peace movement fought back. The New York State Liquor Authority refused to issue liquor licenses to many gay bars, and several popular establishments had licenses suspended or revoked for "indecent conduct.". That's what happened on June 28, but as people were released, the night took an unusual turn when protesters and police clashed. Danny Garvin:And the cops just charged them. Katrina Heilbroner TV Host (Archival):That's a very lovely dress too that you're wearing Simone. Slate:Boys Beware(1961) Public Service Announcement. I say, I cannot tell this without tearing up. Mayor John Lindsay, like most mayors, wanted to get re-elected. And Vito and I walked the rest of the whole thing with tears running down our face. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Well, I had to act like I wasn't nervous. [7] In 1987, the film won Emmy Awards for Best Historical/Cultural Program and Best Research. And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble. Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives And I said to myself, "Oh my God, this will not last.". J. Michael Grey For those kisses. And they were lucky that door was closed, they were very lucky. In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's gay community. You see, Ralph was a homosexual. I famously used the word "fag" in the lead sentence I said "the forces of faggotry." Barney Karpfinger David Carter, Author ofStonewall:Most raids by the New York City Police, because they were paid off by the mob, took place on a weeknight, they took place early in the evening, the place would not be crowded. Homosexuals do not want that, you might find some fringe character someplace who says that that's what he wants. That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:What was so good about the Stonewall was that you could dance slow there. Susana Fernandes The police weren't letting us dance. Slate:In 1969, homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois. Revealing and. That's what gave oxygen to the fire. Paul Bosche Dick Leitsch:And the blocks were small enough that we could run around the block and come in behind them before they got to the next corner. You know, it's just, everybody was there. Narrator (Archival):This is one of the county's principal weekend gathering places for homosexuals, both male and female. A New York Police officer grabs a man by the hair as another officer clubs a man during a confrontation in Greenwich Village after a Gay Power march in New York. Before Stonewall | The New York Public Library Evan Eames The events that took place in June 1969 have been described as the birth of the gay-rights movement, but that's only partially true. Judy Laster I told the person at the door, I said "I'm 18 tonight" and he said to me, "you little SOB," he said. It was narrated by author Rita Mae Brown, directed by Greta Schiller, co-directed by Robert Rosenberg, and co-produced by John Scagliotti and Rosenberg, and Schiller. It was a 100% profit, I mean they were stealing the liquor, then watering it down, and they charging twice as much as they charged one door away at the 55.
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