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Before Stonewall

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Before Stonewall Before Stonewall: Philadelphia’s ‘Annual Reminders’ of the 1960s Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash By Patrick McKnight to customers it felt challenged existing ast year marked the 50th anniversary of the June 1969 Stonewall gender norms. Three of the teenagers who Riots in New York City. This event is widely remembered in popular helped organize the protest were arrested. culture as the beginning of the modern LGBTQ rights movement. Clark Polak, president of the Janus Society, However,L several years before 1969, activists in Philadelphia were already offered to help obtain a lawyer for the three teenagers. He was also arrested and hard at work making important strides for the rights of the community. charged with disorderly conduct. Unfortunately, this groundbreaking work is often overlooked. The Janus Society was founded in Philadelphia in 1962. Its monthly It’s somewhat easy to forget how much progress has been made magazine, DRUM, was one of the earliest LGBTQ publications towards LGBTQ equality in just the past 20 years. Philadelphia in the country. DRUM may have been the most popular LGBTQ has played a critical role. As is so often the case, the city served publication in America during the 1960s. as a focal point for larger discussions about civil liberties and the For five days, members of the Janus Society protested and proper role of government. Philadelphia’s unique legacy presents distributed literature outside the restaurant. A second sit-in on May a backdrop where the egalitarian principles of America’s founding 2, 1965, also led to denials of service but no arrests. can be contrasted against modern inequities. Many of the details and identities involved with the Dewey’s The pre-Stonewall LGBTQ rights movement illustrates an Sit-in remain unclear. However, this event helped lay the foundation important chapter in Philadelphia’s history. This article discusses for another historic protest just a few months later. selected events and leaders from this period. Annual Reminders at the Liberty Bell Dewey’s Sit-in Between 1965 and 1969, local LGBTQ activists marked the On April 25, 1965, a historic sit-in began at Dewey’s Lunch Fourth of July by holding “Annual Reminders” in front of the Counter on 17th Street near Rittenhouse Square. Dewey’s was Liberty Bell. Many historians consider these protests the first of a restaurant chain with several locations in the Philadelphia their kind in the country. The protests both celebrated American area. The business apparently had a policy of refusing service ideals while attempting to remind the general public those ideals 18 the philadelphia lawyer Summer 2020 Philadelphia has been instrumental in both the civil rights and LGBTQ movements, and this history deserves to be remembered. remained unfulfilled. age regulations shall be made for this list. However, one of the most influential is The demonstrators focused on demonstration. Barbara Gittings. employment issues and wore suits or We also propose that we contact Barbara Gittings moved to Philadelphia dresses. The organizers had strict rules for Homophile organizations throughout the when she was 18 and lived here until her the conduct and appearance of participants. country and suggest that they hold parallel passing in 2007. She helped organize the In 1965, demonstrators believed demonstrations on that day. We propose a Annual Reminders and countless other “respectability” was important to win the nationwide show of support. events. hearts and minds of the public. No public Gittings has been described as, “the displays of affection were permitted under Local Leadership Rosa Parks of the gay and lesbian civil the rules. rights movement.” Among her other In late June 1969, the Stonewall Riots The list of local leaders who played accomplishments, she was instrumental in in New York City marked an inflection critical roles in the movement is too long to having homosexuality removed from the point for the LGBTQ movement. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of The last Annual Reminder has held mental disorders in 1972. In 2012, just a few days later. Stonewall Philadelphia named a section of also marked a shift towards a more Locust Street “Barbara Gittings Way” radical approach in tactics. The in her memory. old model of “respectability” no longer seemed appropriate to many Conclusion demonstrators. In 1970, many of the local Philadelphia has a rich legal organizers of the Annual Reminder history. In a sense, the founding helped launch the Christopher of the nation is so monumental it Street Liberation Day event in can overshadow our subsequent New York City. Some historians accomplishments in the popular consider this the first pride day imagination. This is understandable parade in the United States. but unfortunate. Philadelphia has been This choice was made in instrumental in both the civil rights Philadelphia at a November 1969 and LGBTQ movements, and this meeting of the Eastern Regional history deserves to be remembered. Conference of Homophile Philadelphia in the 1960s was Organizations (ERCHO). ERCHO a melting pot of legal activism. This released the following statement period in Philadelphia history holds about the decision: important implications for 2020 as That the Annual Reminder, in Philadelphia attorneys and activists order to be more relevant, reach continue to shape the national dialogue a greater number of people, and about legal equality and individual encompass the ideas and ideals of rights. the larger struggle in which we are This is a long, proud Philadelphia engaged—that of our fundamental tradition that deserves to be continued. human rights—be moved both in time and location. We propose that a Patrick McKnight is an associate at demonstration be held annually Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg on the last Saturday in June in LLP in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. New York City to commemorate the 1969 spontaneous demonstrations on Christopher Street and this demonstration be Barbara Gittings picketing Independence Hall as part of called CHRISTOPHER STREET an Annual Reminder on July 4, 1966. © Kay Lahusen, Equality Forum LIBERATION DAY. No dress or the philadelphia lawyer Summer 2020 19.
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