Stonewall Inn

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The Stonewall Uprising

WARNING: Homophobia, Brutality, Transphobia,

                                  Alcohol,

Chapters:

Before Stonewall

Stonewall Inn

The Riots

Pride Parade

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Before Stonewall

The 1960’s were not accepting to lgbtq+ individuals, in fact, same sex marriage was illegal in New York City.

For this reason, lgbtq+ attended “gay bars”, where they could express themselves and be true. However, the New York State Liquor Authority penalized and shut down establishments that openly served lgbtq+ or suspected to be lgbtq+ individuals. For what reason? According to New York State Liquor Authority, that “The mere gathering of homosexuals was “disorderly”. Lgbtq+ people in New York no longer had a safe space.

Thankfully, this law was overturned due to activists. These regulations were overturned in 1966, and lgbtq+ patrons could then be served alcohol.

Yet, same sex marriage and people of the same sex hugging/kissing/holding hands was still illegal. So police harassment of “gay bars” was still common.

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Stonewall Inn

From what I can see, Stonewall Inn was ed as a type of private “bottle bar”. Which did not require a liquor license because people were supposed to bring their own liquor while attending. People who attended the club had to sign their names in a book upon arriving.

The club had poor hygiene and was unsafe. There was no fire escape, no running water, and clean toilets.

Nonetheless, this bar welcomed drag queens, gender non-conforming people, lesbian, and gay people. This was a safe spot for lgbtq+ people. It was a nightly home for many runaways and homeless lgbtq+ teens who got kicked out from their home or ran away.

This bar allowed same sex dancing, kissing, or holding hands. They hadnt gotten caught because they tipped cops off (bribed them).

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The Riots

Suddenly, police had raided Stonewall on the morning of June 28th- someone hadn’t tipped the bar off this time.

Armed with a warrant, police officers entered the club, scared the people attending the club. Lgbtq+ attending Stonewall had been treated with disrespect and harm. Female officers would take drag queens, and cross dressers into bathrooms and check for their sex, violating them. It was horrible. As they were getting manhandled, residents and the club attendees hung around outside of the bar instead of dispersing. An officer hit a lesbian on the head, as he forced her in the police van. Fed up with the equality and discrimination, the people who hung around outside started picking up pennies, cobblestone, rocks, coins, anything- they threw it at the police. Demanding that the police stop. Within minutes, a full riot started. They had attempted to set the building on fire aswell.

The fire department and riot squad had came quickly, and dispersed the riot, whilst putting out the flame. But the protests, sometimes involving thousands of people, continued in the area for five more days to come.

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Pride Parade

On the one-year anniversary of the riots on June 28, 1970, thousands of people marched in the streets of Manhattan from the Stonewall Inn to Central Park in what was then called “Christopher Street Liberation Day,” America’s first gay pride parade. The parade’s official chant was: “Say it loud, gay is proud.”

This lead to so much love! This was a start to lgbtq equality.

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Thank you for reading this! And !

Say it loud, gay is proud!

And give a thanks to..

Marsha P. Johnson

#featurethis