The Stonewall Rebellion of 1969: The Oral History of Roger Goodman Interviewer: Danielle Bernabei Interviewee: Roger Goodman Instructor: Mr. Haight Date: February 15, 2015 Table of Contents Interviewee Release Form…………………………………………………………………2 Student Release Form……………………………………………………………………..3 Statement of Purpose……………………………………………………………………...4 Biography………………………………………………………………………………….5 Historical Contextualization: The Turning Point of the Gay Rights Movement………….7 Interview Transcription…………………………………………………………………..18 Interview Analysis……………………………………………………………………….38 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………41 Works Consulted…………………………………………………………………………44 Statement of Purpose The purpose of this American Century oral history project is to further understand the pivotal event that propelled the gay rights movement to its current success, the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969. Stonewall veteran Roger Goodman’s reflection in an interview, provides a valiant, and emotional statement on the rebellion with record of previous gay liberation efforts and the AIDS outbreak. Mr. Goodman’s childhood, and adult experiences as a member of the homosexual community, and as an active member in the fight for equality provide Mr. Goodman the ability to appraise the impact of the Stonewall Rebellion on the LGBT community and the efforts towards Civil Rights and the Gay Rights Movement. Biography of Roger Goodman Roger Goodman, M.Mus. M.Div. was born in New York City in 1946 and is the brother of Len Goodman who is three years older than Roger. He is the son of Florence and Gerald Goodman. Roger attended Oberlin College and Trinity College of Music in London for his undergraduate degree and attended Northwestern University for his M.Mus. He matriculated to Chicago Theological ‘Seminary and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary where he earned his M.Div., specializing in Queer Theology of the body. Roger was active during the Civil Rights Movement and protests over the Vietnam War in the 1960’s, yet understanding the heterosexism of those movements slowly grew away from them because of that particular politic. Mr. Goodman is also a Veteran of the Stonewall Rebellion, the watershed event for the contemporary LGBTQ movement in June 1969. After being an international concert harpsichordist, teacher, and recording artist, performing in such venues as Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center in NYC, Carnegie Recital Hall in NYC, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in St. Paul, and Orchestra Hall in Chicago, he retired from musician 2010 after 40 years. Upon his retirement he began work on the completion of his published book Thoughts of a Tribal Elder: One Queerman’s Journey From the Ashes Risen, a book of essays on ‘Queer topics such as politics, spirituality, ritual, symbol, transformational sex, mythology, the arts, etc. as well as Mr. Goodman’s poetry. Because of his addictions, he became HIV+ in the early 1980s and was diagnosed with AIDS in 1995 at which time he died during a 10-day coma, but miraculously came back from death. He says the reason that he came back was because he had important transformational work to do with Queer people everywhere. Thoughts of a Tribal Elder is a major part of that work, as was his performing and teaching. Mr. Goodman is a retired Spiritual Director in private practice, which he began with his Queer brothers dying from AIDS-related complications in the 1980s and 90s doing chaplaincy work in the death rooms in two hospitals in Chicago. Mr. Goodman lives with a number of HIV-related illnesses, two of them being terminal. He lives in Chicago with his spouse Jerry Scholle and their two beloved cats Murfee and Gizmo. The Turning Point of the Gay Rights Movement Gaius Scribonius Curio, a Roman politician suggested that the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar was bisexual by stating that Caesar was, “a husband to every man’s wife and a wife to every woman’s husband”(Fascinating History). It was believed that Caesar was never troubled by the opinion others had based on his sexual identity, but that was back in 44 B.C. It is understandably surprising that the concept of being a part of the presently regarded LGBT1 community was accepted and not considered controversial during the Roman Emperors time considering the first gay rights organization was founded on December 10, 1924 in the United States. The actions that took place June 28th July 3, 1969 in Greenwich Village, a small neighborhood in New York City generated the true beginning of the gay liberation movement and present activism in the United States. The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar, where gays and lesbians felt comfortable gathering together. Gay, lesbian and transgender men and women were surrounded by New York Police officers who raided the bar expecting the common submission of the group but receiving a counterattack. Being apart of the LGBT community was “breaking the law” and punishable by imprisonment. People of the community were not only subjected to harassment because of their sexual identity, but also because of the color of their skin, the Gay Rights Movement and the Civil Rights Movement coincided with similar problems. The revolt was an effort to raise and establish awareness that all people should be given equal rights, regardless of their sexual identity or race. To understand the importance of what occurred at the Stonewall Inn, one must examine what prompted the group to 1 LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, a way to describe ones gender or sexual identity. retaliate, what transpired during the five nights and the effect the riots as well as gain a first-hand perspective from someone who was there. Homophobia is an extreme and irrational aversion to homosexuality and homosexual people. There were many “precautionary measures” that took place over time in attempts to deny gay rights, but eventually those who identified with the community began to embrace and voice their sexual identity. Upon the ending of World War Two, gays and lesbians were promptly denied the power to enlist in the military due to President Dwight Eisenhower’s “Executive Order 10450, which banned homosexuals from working for the federal government or any of its private contractors” (PBS), which supported denying even suspected homosexuals of their jobs. Pressure to either stay “in the closet” or emphasize ones heterosexuality for women increased in the work place, especially in the military, “any woman who rejects male advances or harassment can easily be accused of lesbianism and suffer humiliation, threats, and sometimes violence” (Pharr 106). Lists began compiling with names, which were publicized, and created for public viewing, which led to the revocation of professional licenses. Matters were made even worse when states began to consider “sex between consenting adults of the same sex, even in a private home, could be punishable up to life in prison, confinement in a mental institution, or even castrated” (Pharr 106), and eventually by 1961 Illinois was the only state that did not consider homosexuality to be illegal. To express ones sexuality publicly transformed into a brave action. Not only was there pressure on the gay and lesbian community but those who associated themselves with the transgender community were forced to identify themselves with genders they did not relate to. New York City began to enforce laws including a penal code which “called for the arrest of anyone in public wearing fewer than three items of clothing “appropriate” to their gender” (ISR), cross dressers were commonly subjected to beatings and even death. Ordinary actions were transformed into possible criminal activity such as “loitering in a public toilet” (ISR) could result in unemployment. To the justice and criminal department it became acceptable to regularly imprison gays solely based on their sexual identity. In the eyes of the law gay people “were condemned by the law as being criminals, they were condemned by religion as being sinners and by medicine as being mentally ill” (PBS), but soon identifying with the LGBT community had strayed away from being something to be ashamed of and discouraged. Transgender people often attempted to broadcast the concept that ones sexual identity was not the only guideline on how to live, but that “gender is possibly not biological but constructed, and that we have choice in the ways it is constructed” (Pharr 117), and in some instances those words were used against people of the LGBT community. California supported the performance of “electroshock and other draconian “therapies” on gays and lesbians” (ISR), which were additions to having them placed in mental institutions for “psychopathic personality disorder2” (ISR). According to Irving Bieber and Charles Socarides, two psychoanalysts believed that “The homosexual is ill, and anything that tends to hide the fact reduced his chances of seeking and obtaining treatment” (Duberman 97). Homosexuals were subject to being tested, like lab rats against heterosexual “controlled samples” normally to come to bogus conclusions but in 1956, Evelyn Hooker published her book, The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual, “Hookers research concludes homosexuality is not a clinical entity and that heterosexuals and homosexuals do not differ significantly” (PBS) which was one of the 2 Psychopathic personality disorder is characterized by enduring antisocial behavior, diminished empathy and remorse, and disinhibited or bold behavior. first studies that was in favor of the homosexual community. Unfortunately, actions like Hooker’s did not stop hate crimes like those in New York City which increased as LGBT people were typically beaten up and killed, with complete disregard to their civil and human rights. There neglected to be any laws, which protected people from physical or verbal abuse. Sylvia an interviewee in Martin Duberman’s book, Stonewall, Sylvia recalls a passerby calling out “Who are you, bitch? Since when did they let dykes in the block?” (Duberman 123), other vicious comments were common, some threatening murder. There were no legal limitations on how people could treat members of the LGBT community.