The gay "sip-in" that drew from the civil rights movement By History.com, adapted by Newsela staff on 11.07.19 Word Count 887 Level 1020L

Image 1. A bartender in Julius's Bar refuses to serve John Timmins, Dick Leitsch, Craig Rodwell and Randy Wicker, members of the Mattachine Society, an early American gay rights group, who were protesting New York liquor laws that prevented serving gay customers on April 21, 1966. Photo from: Getty Images/Fred W. McDarrah.

In 1966, on a spring afternoon in Greenwich Village, three men set out to change the political and social climate of New York City. After having gone from one bar to the next, the men reached a cozy tavern named Julius'. They approached the bartender, proclaimed they were gay and then requested a drink, but were promptly denied service.

The trio had accomplished their goal: their "sip-in" had begun.

The men belonged to the Mattachine Society, an early organization dedicated to fighting for gay rights. They wanted to show that bars in the city discriminated against gay people. Discrimination against the gay community was a common practice at the time. Still, this discrimination was less obvious than the discriminatory Jim Crow laws in the South that forced racial segregation.

Bartenders Refused Service To Gay Couples

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. A person's sexual orientation couldn't be detected as easily as a person's sex or race. With that in mind, the New York State Liquor Authority, a state agency that controls liquor sales, took action. They made appropriate, "orderly" behavior a requirement for being served alcohol in a bar. However, romantic relationships between two men were considered disorderly. The rule allowed bartenders to refuse service to gay men.

Bars that served gay people ran the risk of having their liquor license taken away. This would prevent them from serving alcohol and ruin their business. The bars were often the targets of police raids due to the work of Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr.

Tom Bernardin is a longtime customer of Julius' since. He says that Wagner's intention was to get rid of New York City's gay population. In 1964, New York was hosting the World's Fair, a large event that would bring many visitors to the area. Wagner wanted to make the city more "welcoming" to those visitors, so he shut down many gay businesses.

Dick Leitsch was the leader of the New York chapter of the Mattachine Society. He decided to stage a protest modeled after the sit-ins of the civil rights movement. During these sit-ins, African- Americans would go to segregated restaurants and cafeterias, sit down and refuse to leave until they were served. Leitsch chose to stage a "sip-in" with two other Mattachine Society members, Craig Rodwell and John Timmins. They were joined at Julius' by another member, Randy Wicker. It came at a time when the civil rights movement began to inspire underrepresented groups throughout the country. And with the November 1965 election of a more open-minded new mayor, John Lindsay, Leitsch saw an opportunity to try and make change.

Exposing Discriminatory Law

Leitsch's plan was to go to a bar and tell the bartender that he and his friends were gay, knowing they would be denied service. Then, the Mattachine Society could take action against the State Liquor Authority. They did this with the support of the American Civil Liberty Union, a civil rights group.

The first part of Leitsch's plan did not go as expected. The society had reached out to newspapers to cover the event, but the original bar they chose for the sip- in, the Ukrainian-American Village Hall, closed after the reporters showed up.

The men visited two more bars, but failed. There, they had announced they were gay, but the bartenders served them drinks anyway. It wasn't until they got to Julius' that they got the response they needed to expose the discriminatory law.

The State Liquor Authority denied the discrimination claim, responding that the decision to serve individuals was up to bartenders. Soon after, the city's human rights agency got involved. They claimed that gay people had the right to be served in bars. The commission also added that the discriminatory rule of the State Liquor Authority should no longer view gay people as "disorderly."

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. Bars became obligated to serve gay customers, giving them a freedom that they hadn't experienced before.

For the next few years in New York, the gay community felt empowered. Police raids became less common. Gay bar customers, while still oppressed in society, had gotten their safe spaces back.

Direct Line To Stonewall Riots

The sip-in also inspired the gay community to protect its new freedoms. According to author and historian John D'Emilio, the famous 1969 Stonewall Riots may not have happened if it weren't for the sip-in. The riots began after police raided the Stonewall Inn bar. There had been dozens of raids before the "sip-in." Still, none of them ever received such a fierce reaction as Stonewall. Many believe Stonewall marked the beginning of the gay rights movement.

More than 50 years later, Julius' celebrates its history as one of the oldest gay bars in New York City. Its walls are covered with photos of the three men being denied service from the bartender. Next to the pictures are the unpleasant newspaper headlines published about the sip-in at the time.

"Everybody has a history and everybody's history has a significant part in all of history," explains Helen Buford, owner of the bar. "Yes, it is a man's gay bar but it welcomes everybody. Whoever you are, you're welcome here."

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.