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The Stonewall Riots: How They Broke Barriers in LGBT+ Activism Claire

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The Stonewall Riots: How They Broke Barriers in LGBT+ Activism Claire The Stonewall Riots: How They Broke Barriers In LGBT+ Activism Claire Winter Junior Division Historical Paper Student-composed Words: 1646 Process Paper: 334 words 1 The gay rights movement is often overlooked in its role as a crucial civil rights movement. The movement’s first stirrings began as early as 1924, but the Stonewall Riots are arguably one of the most well-known and most influential events in the fight for LGBT+ rights. On June 28, 1969, police raided Stonewall Inn1 (a gay bar) in Greenwich Village, New York. The patrons of the Inn, some of whom were arrested, began to riot at the unfair treatment. These riots continued for five more days, and became a major turning point marking the more modern change of LGBT+ rights, with the first pride parade taking place on the one-year anniversary of the raid on the Inn. Even today, it is hailed as one of the most major events in the movement’s history. Background In 1969, the year the riots took place, LGBTQ+ and other nonconforming people were still heavily discriminated against. Homosexuality and the act of same-sex intercourse was still illegal, being considered sodomy in 49 out of 50 states2 (excepting Illinois, which struck down its law in 19613). The consequences ranged from fines to possible arrest and imprisonment throughout the country. After WWII, those suspected of being gay in the military were discharged dishonorably. In 1953, President Eisenhower signed an executive order adding ‘sexual perversion’ as a ground for investigation in employment. In nearly all states, professional licenses could be either denied or revoked to people based on their sexuality. Homosexuals were simultaneously blamed for communism and were thought to be the main culprits for child molestation4. The U.S. laws were “harsher on homosexuals than those in Cuba, Russia or East Germany, countries that the U.S. criticized for their despotic ways”5. Members of the LGBT+ 1 See Appendix A. 2 History.com Editors. "Gay Rights." History, 8 June 2017, ​ ​ ​ www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/history-of-gay-rights. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019. 3 Ibid. 4 Carter, David. "Greenwich Village, USA." Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2004, pp. 1-29. 5 Ibid, Carter. ​ 2 community, such as non-gender-conforming individuals, transvestisites, or other “out” (openly gay) individuals needed specific spots to meet others like them covertly, and often turned to ‘gay bars’ such as Stonewall in order to gather and express themselves. These bars profited, because, along with the countless other restrictions on homosexuals, groups of them being served alcohol in public was also considered “disorderly”6. Alex Hortis, the author of The Mob and the City, an “exhaustively researched ​ ​ ​ history of the New York Mafia”7, described it as “Gay Prohibition—a form of alcohol prohibition, except that the restrictions were on homosexuals”8. Numerous gay bars were run by the Mafia- Stonewall was ​ run by Mafia member “Fat Tony”, along with a few other associates. The Inn wasn’t completely safe, as they were still subject to police raids (although the Mafia often bribed the police to warn them beforehand). Sylvia Rivera, a transgender woman and transgender rights activist present in the riots, described the regular police raids in an interview conducted in 1989: “The [police] came in to get their payoff as usual. They would come in, padlock the friggin’ door. As soon as they left the mafia was there cuttin’ in the door, they had a new register, they had more money, and they had more booze. This is what we learned to live with at that time. We had to live with it. We had to live with it until that day”9. The Mafia who ran the bar were focused on making money, so Stonewall was clearly far from up to code- the club had no running water or fire exits. They also neatly sidestepped the hassle of getting a liquor license by employing a common trick of the mob. The Inn was, on the surface, listed as a ‘bottle bar’. A bottle bar was a bar where customers brought their own alcohol, and left it there, drinking from it whenever they came in. In reality, Stonewall simply served alcohol to their patron10s. The owners of the bars would often 6 Fried, Ronald K. "How The Mafia Muscled in and Controlled the Stonewall Inn." Daily Beast, 29 June 2019, ​ ​ www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-mafia-muscled-in-and-controlled-the-stonewall-inn. Accessed 22 Nov. 2019. 7 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 9 Rivera, Sylvia. Interview. Conducted by Eric Markus. Making Gay History, 9 Dec. ​ ​ ​ 1989, makinggayhistory.com/podcast/episode-1-1/. Accessed 26 Nov. 2019. 10 Carter, David. "Greenwich Village, USA." Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the ​ Gay Revolution, New York, St. Martin's Press, 2004, pp. 1-29. 3 extort patrons, making them pay up to the bar owners or be outed to their employers or families. Most were forced to comply if they wanted to keep their jobs and relationships (many LGBT+ individuals still in the closet had heterosexual relationships or marriages). These stipulations and conditions in Stonewall were evident in most gay bars at the time, particularly those that were Mafia-run. The Raid and the Riots In the early morning of June 28, 1969, nine NYPD police officers, including Inspector Seymour Pine, conducted a raid on the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York. This time, it was a surprise- the owners of the bar were not notified by the police beforehand. Officers discovered bootleg alcohol and took patrons “suspected to be cross-dressing”11 into bathrooms to check their gender, in accordance with New York’s ‘gender-appropriate clothing’ ordinance12, which stated that if a person was wearing less than three articles of clothing that were suitable for their biological gender, they were “masked...by unusual or unnatural attire or facial alteration”13 and were legally allowed to be arrested. (In actuality, this law was an old one that had been created in the 1800s due to farmers dressing as women to demonstrate protest against their landlords14.) As police seized thirteen employees and customers15, the patrons gradually became agitated at the unfair treatment and discrimination. Instead of dispersing, they formed a crowd outside the Stonewall Inn as the officers began roughly forcing those arrested into paddy wagons. A Village Voice writer named Howard Smith, present at the riots, wrote in his account that “the ​ turning point came when the police had difficulty keeping a dyke16 in a patrol car...Three times she slid out and tried to walk away. The last time a cop bodily heaved her in. The crowd shrieked, ‘Police 11 History.com Editors. "Gay Rights." History, 8 June 2017, ​ ​ ​ www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/history-of-gay-rights. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019. 12 Ibid. 13 Carter, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. New York, ​ ​ St. Martin's Press, 2004. 14 Ibid. 15 ---. "Stonewall Riots." HISTORY, 31 May 2017, www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/ ​ ​ the-stonewall-riots. Accessed 6 Nov. 2019. 16 A dyke is a derogatory term for a lesbian. 4 brutality!’ ‘Pigs!’”17 The crowd began to retaliate, throwing change, bottles, and other small objects at the police18. Sylvia Rivera also recalls this in her 1989 interview, saying: “The people at them bars, especially at the Stonewall, were involved in other movements and everybody just like, alright, we gotta’ do our thing. We’re gonna’ go for it...All of a sudden you just feel this… everybody’s looking at each other...why do we have to keep on constantly putting up with this? And the nickels, the dimes, the pennies, and the quarters started flying...That was [to symbolize] the payoff...”19. As the crowd continued their assault, the officers conducting the raid, along with formerly mentioned journalist Howard Smith, set up a barricade and retreated into the bar. Smith also described this experience, saying: “We bolt the heavy door...Inside we hear the shattering of windows, followed by what we imagine to be bricks pounding on the door, voices yelling”20. The incensed mob breached the police barricade and subsequently set the Inn on fire. Backup was called for, and the officers and Smith escaped the building with the help of the fire department. A few days later, he would write and publish an article recounting his experience on “the wrong side of the blue line”21. Eventually, the rioters outside of Stonewall dispersed, but impromptu protests continued to flare up across the surrounding area for days. The First Pride Parade Is Created While the Stonewall Riots weren’t the beginning of the gay rights movement (many historians attribute that to 1924, when the first recorded gay rights organization was established22), they were a major turning point in how gay rights were approached and a marker for a more active protest approach. 17Stuart, Tessa. "Full Moon Over the Stonewall: Howard Smith's Account of the Stonewall Riots." Voice, 26 June 2015, www.villagevoice.com/2015/06/26/ ​ ​ full-moon-over-the-stonewall-howard-smiths-account-of-the-stonewall-riots/. Accessed 24 Nov. 2019. 18 Fitzsimons, Tim. "LGBTQ History Month: The Road to America's First Gay Pride March." NBC News, 5 ​ ​ ​ Oct. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/lgbtq-history-month-road-america-s-first-gay-pride-march- n917096. Accessed 7 Nov. 2019. 19 Rivera, Sylvia. Interview. Conducted by Eric Markus. Making Gay History, 9 Dec. ​ ​ 1989, makinggayhistory.com/podcast/episode-1-1/. Accessed 26 Nov. 2019. 20 Ibid. 21 Stuart, "Full Moon Over the Stonewall”.
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