Stonewall Riots & PRIDE History Bite-size
June 28th, 1969. What a date!
Why?
That was the day of the Stonewall Riots, the catalyst for the LGBT movement for civil rights, not only in the US but also across the world.
There weren't many places that gay men could go and be themselves. The city had laws prohibiting homosexuality in public so venues and businesses were quickly raided and shut down. Greenwich Village had become a gay haven over the years prior to the riots, and so
drew the attention of the police regularly. These raids tested the patience of the local community.
In the early hours of June 28th, 1969 the police raided The Stonewall Inn.
The police did have justification for being there that night. The bar, owned by the mafia, was selling liquor without any license. However, the gay community had grown weary of the actions of the police and their heavy handed arrests and this proved to be the straw that broke the camels back for the local community. Tired at being pushed around and targeted by the police, they decided that enough was enough. They started to fight back.
Soon a riot ensued and as word spread about the demonstration in Greenwich Village, more and more gay men and women from the local area joined the customers of the Inn. Police reinforcements were called and beat the crowd away, however the next night even more protestors turned up, shouting ‘gay power’ and throwing objects at the police. This went on for days and every day more and more people joined the fight.
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How did the fight actually start? It is believed that it started with drag queen, Marsha P Johnson. She had managed to get outside during the raid and was stood watching what was happening as other patrons were being dragged into police trucks and police cars. A gay woman, who was being forcibly dragged through the street and man handled into a police car, looked upon the crowd and shouted, ‘why don’t you do something?’ and with that Marsha took her beer bottle and threw it at the police men. This wave of retaliation spread through the crowd like a wild fire. The police quickly lost control of the situation and were being bomb-barded with sticks, pennies, bottles and rocks.
Having lasted for around 6 days the Stonewall Riot did eventually stop, only after the police called in a riot-control squad to disperse the crowd. There had been other demonstrations throughout city in support of the events at The Stonewall Inn. The anger and energy that came from the riots were quickly funnelled into activism and many activist groups had been organised across New York. Soon similar groups were organised in other cities across America and the globe.
12 months after the riots on June 28th, 1970, the first gay pride marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago with similar marches organised in other cities in other countries.
Stonewall and its riots are widely considered the single most important element in the creation of the gay liberation movement and fight for LGBT rights across the globe.
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Gay PRIDE marches continue to happen across the world today.
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