LGBT History Part-3

The Stonewall Inn:

In 1969, The Clandestine gay club Stonewall Inn was an institution in Greenwich Village because it was large, cheap, allowed dancing and welcomed drag queens and homeless youth.

In the early hours on June 28, 1969, New York City Police raided the Stonewall Inn. Fed up with years of police harassment, patrons and neighborhood residents began throwing objects at police as they loaded the arrested into police vans. The scene eventually blew into a full-blown riot. Which lasted five days.

June 28-29:

Despite having been torn apart by the cops, the Stonewall Inn opened before dark the next night. Even though they weren't serving alcohol, more and more supporters showed up, chanting slogans like " Gay Power!" And "We shall overcome!" Again the police were called out to restore order, including an even larger group of TPF officers, who beat and tear-gassed members of the crowd. This continues until the early hours of the morning when the crowd started to leave.

June 29-July 1:

Over the next several nights, gay activists continued to gather near the Stonewall, taking advantage of the moment to spread information and build the community that would fuel the growth of the gay rights movement. Though police officers also returned, the mood was less confrontational, with isolated skirmish's replacing the large - scale riots of the weekend.

July 2, 1969:

In response to the Village Voice's coverage of riots, which referred to " the force of faggotry" protesters swarmed outside the paper's offices. Some called for burning the building down. When police pushed back, rioting started again, but lasted only a short time, ending by midnight.

The New York Daily News also resorted to homophobic slurs in its detailed coverage, running the headline: " Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad." Meanwhile, the New York Times wrote only sparingly of the whole event, printing a short article on June 30th titled, Police Again Rout 'Village' Youth.

Christopher Street Liberation Day:

Shortly after the Stonewall uprising, members of the Mattachine Society split off to form the Gay Liberation Front, a radical group that launched public demonstrations, protests, and confrontations with political officials.

Similar groups followed, including the Gay Activists Alliance, Radical lesbians, and Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries.

In 1970, at the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, New York City community members marched through local streets in commemoration of the event. Named the Christopher Street Liberation Day, the march is now considered the country’s first gay pride parade. Activists also turned the once-disreputable Pink Triangle into a symbol of gay pride.

Gay Political Victories:

The increased visibility and activism of LGBT individuals in the 1970s helped the movement make progress on multiple fronts. In 1977, for instance, the New York Supreme Court ruled that transgender woman Renée Richards could play at the United States Open tennis tournament as a woman.

Additionally, several openly LGBT individuals secured public office positions: Kathy Kozachenko won a seat to the Ann Harbor, Michigan, City Council in 1974, becoming the first out American to be elected to public office.

Harvey Milk, who campaigned on a pro-gay rights platform, became the San Francisco city supervisor in 1978, becoming the first openly gay man elected to a political office in California.

Milk asked Gilbert Baker, an artist and gay rights activist, to create an emblem that represents the movement and would be seen as a symbol of pride. Baker designed and stitched together the first rainbow flag, which he unveiled at a pride parade in 1978.

The following year, in 1979, more than 100,000 people took part in the first National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.

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