Stonewall Uprising

For those that don't know, the [url=http://www.thestonewallinnnyc.com/StonewallInnNYC/HISTORY.html]Stonewall Uprising[/url] is often considered the start of the Gay Rights movement. The Stonewall Inn is a bar in Greenwich Village (in New York City) that often catered to gay, lesbian, and transgendered individual even though it was illegal during those times to serve them alcohol or show affection to members of the same sex. It was also required that people wear three articles of clothing that matched your sex. Police raids of these places were very common in the 1960's and it was generally something that gay people just accepted since there was really now where else to go (despite the fact that Greenwich Village was supposed to be one of more accepting places in America). It was a time where homosexuals were equated with pedophilia and PSAs like [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqIIeGmhL2Q]this[/url] were not at all uncommon. Many patrons of these establishments were arrested and very often beaten by the police since homosexuality was considered lewd and inappropriate behavior. If you were ever arrested then they would put your name on a list of known homosexual offenders which often lead to you losing your job and made it very difficult to find other work (suspected homosexuals were barred from any sort of federal work). This was also the time where homosexuality was considered a severe mental disorder and you can often be thrown in mental institutions for being gay where they often perform gruesome therapy to attempt to turn you straight (like electric shock aversion therapy where they shock you while showing you erotic images of the same sex) On June 28, 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn and started lining up those who they planned on arresting in the bar and told the rest to leave (there were about 200 people in the bar at the time). However, the people didn't leave as usual and more people started to conglomerate at the front door outside the bar. As they were attempting to arrest some of the patrons and waiting for the first paddy wagon, a lesbian was complaining that her cuffs were too tight and she was hit by an officer's night stick and she hit him back and this started a eventually lead to a riot. About ten police officers had to end up barricading themselves inside the bar since the crowd outside grew to about 500-600 people and the due to a radio problems, reinforcements were being delayed. Eventually riot control came and were able to free the officers from the bar and they attempted to arrest more people but the crowd was simply too large at this point and people began mocking the police by singing and forming kick lines. No one expected that this was possible since gay people are supposed weak and the cops were thoroughly humiliated during the whole ordeal. After several hours of rioting, the streets cleared. For the next few days, more riots happened in the same areas. The Stonewall Uprising is considered the start of the Gay Right movements since it was one of the first times where gay people stood up for themselves and it also served to help unite the gay community. The first gay pride parade occurred on June 28, 1970 in New York City (called Christopher Street Liberation Day) to commemorate the uprising of Stonewall. It is really crazy to think how far that we have come although it is still unfortunate that there are people that display great bigotry towards LGBT individuals but at least we can say that we have made some great progress over the years. Also Obama was the first president to reference the Stonewall Uprising in his inauguration speech: [quote]We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths—that all of us are created equal—is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall. . . . Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law—for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well[/quote] Out of curiosity, how many of you were familiar with Stonewall prior to the creation of this thread?