In the documentary, Before Stonewall, there is a lot of information of the development of the experiences of the LGBTQ community in the United States during the 20th century leading up to the Stonewall riots in 1969. The United States has come a long way in terms of the LGBTQ community since the beginning of the 20th century and the beginning of the gay rights movement. In the early 1900s, being gay was considered illegal and many were arrested and taken to trials. Many people were also being treated by psychologists and doctors to be “cured” of this
“disease.” Although, society was beginning to become aware of the homosexual subculture especially when the first American defense of homosexuality was published by Edward
Stevenson. In New York
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Also, the president of the Mattachine Society, Dick Leitsch, had anti-gay accommodations rules put in for the New York State Liquor Authority so homosexual people could not purchase alcohol. Then within the 1960s the fire and police departments refused to remove questions about homosexuality from their hiring practices while the SLA stopped shutting down legally licensed gay bars and therefore the Stonewall Inn managed to serve alcohol, but were unlicensed. Then the Stonewall Riots came to be violent conflicts between the homosexuals and transsexuals against the police when the police came and raided the bar due to them operating without a license. This then became the turning point for the gay rights movement. A year later Craig Rodwell dedicated a march for the riots where 5,000 people participated and put Stonewall has a historical turning point and created the start of pride marches. Finally society was becoming more accepting of homosexuals, but it soon ended again in the late 1970s when new religious views pushed for a new set conservatism and get rid of liberalism, which also led into the 1980s. The 1980s was also the period when the HIV epidemic became linked to gay men, which then created new anti-gay movements from the
In Vicki L. Eaklor’s Queer America, the experiences of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people in the years since the 1970s gay liberation movement are described as a time of transformation and growth. The antigay movement, threatened, now more than ever, created numerous challenges and obstacles that are still prevalent today. Many of the important changes made associated with the movement were introduced through queer and queer allied individuals and groups involved in politics. Small victories such as the revision of the anti discrimination statement to include “sexual orientation”, new propositions regarding the Equal Rights Amendment and legalized abortion, were met in turn with growing animosity and resistance from individuals and groups opposed to liberal and
The stonewall riots happened june 28, 1969. It took place in the the Stonewall inn which is located in Greenwich Village which is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. “The stonewall inn is widely known as the birthplace of the modern LGBT rights movement and holds a truly iconic place in history” (gaycitynews). This means that the Stonewall riots was the event that started the gay rights movement. This is saying that The Stonewall is where the gay rights movement started for gay people to have same rights has anyone else. It all started with A number of incidents that were happening simultaneously. “There was no one thing that happened or one person, there was just… a flash of group, of mass anger”(Wright). This means that everything was happening at once and a bunch of people were angry. People in the crowd started shouting “Gay Power!” “And as the word started to spread through Greenwich Village and across the city, hundreds of gay men and lesbians, black, white, Hispanic, and predominantly working class, converged on the Christopher Street area around the Stonewall Inn to join the fray”(Wright). So many gay and lesbian people were chanting “gay power” . “The street outside the bar where the rebellion lasted for several day and night in june”(gaycitynews). so the stonewall riot lasted many days and
The Stonewall Riots were a series of riots that took place at a gay club, Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village, New York City, during a six-day span commencing on June 28, 1969. Generally speaking, the protesters were homosexual men and women fighting against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. At certain points during the riots, there were “between two hundred and three hundred police on the scene” and police officers chased down the protesters with nightsticks (Carter 193). Indeed, according to a news report cited by Carter, “young people, many of them queens, were lying on the sidewalk, bleeding from the head, face, mouth, and even th...
...e social changes brought about this period. He cites the growing sensationalism of sex covered in the media as a prime driver behind the sexual orthodoxy in American culture (Chauncey 1994, 359). During this witch hunt, he draws a silver lining. Using the scholarship of others such as John D’Emilio, he cites that this period brought a greater bond to the gay community by forging brotherhood of adversity which would then come back into play in the 1960’s as an experiential touchstone for the Civil Rights era (Chauncey 1994, 360). Chauncey nestles his own narrative of the gay community in New York within the larger narrative of gay life in America filling in the gaps of secondary sources through his own primary work.
The media considers the1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City the spark of the modern gay rights movement. This occurred after the police raided the Stonewall bar, a popular gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Allyn argues that the new energy and militancy generated by the riot played a crucial role in creating the gay liberation movement. Arguably, the Stonewall Riots have come to resemble the pivotal moment in gay rights history largely because it provided ways for the gay community to resist the social norms. In fact, the riots increased public awareness of gay rights activism (Allyn 157). Gay life after the Stonewall riots, however, was just as varied and complex as it was before. In the following era, ho...
Kuhn, Betsy. Gay Power!: The Stonewall Riots and the Gay Rights Movement, 1969. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century, 2011. Print.
However, depending on their environment or the quality of one’s relationship to another person; the individual’s sexuality can be discussed with those closest to them. When their sexual orientation is revealed or “outed”, the individual has both opportunities such as accepted by families and peer groups and problems such as dealing with homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in their homes, schools and the communities in the presence of others and their opinions; making them feel let down, abandoned and dejected. According to Kathryn Dindia’s article “Going Into and Coming Out of the Closet: The Dialectics of Stigma and Disclosure” those who identify as bisexual, lesbian, gay or transgender are subject to stigma of AIDS or mental illness because “...the stigma is difficult or impossible to conceal, whether to reveal or conceal is an issue for the discreditable…”(85). Stating the individuals who came out as the “discreditable”, as have noted when the individual decided to reveal their sexual orientation they have ordeals such stereotypes, hatred, microaggressions and stigma. The chapter speaks into social sense unlike the next reading “Out of the Closets and Into the Courts”, Ellen Andersen narrates coming out in a more legal manner. During the Counterculture Movement and the 1970’s, Andersen pointed out and stressed “...gay men and lesbians needed legal representation…”(17) as well as protection by law enforcement, although earlier said the Stone wall Riots was provoked by acts of police brutality and the court system. Especially in American society, the book additionally states that the Gay Rights
In the United States from 1920 to 1933 there was a ban on the production and sale of alcoholic beverages, this time was known as prohibition. Prohibition of alcohol was a very controversial topic in the 1920s and because of this there were many varying opinions on it. Some people didn’t like it and bought alcohol illegally while some other groups supported it, even gangs got involved when they heard of the new illegal product on the black market. There were gang battles and political corruption and many other issues. This was the time known as Prohibition in the United States. (wikipedia.org, Prohibition in the United States)
The persecution of homosexuals during this age of McCarthy proved exactly how vulnerable they were to attack and discrimination. Out of those persecutions came some of the first organized “gay rights” groups, known as Homophile organizations, the first two being the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilibis (who focused their efforts on Lesbian rights). Founded in 1950 by Harry Hay, the...
The background of homosexuality in the 1940’s and 50’s was harsh, but people started to be opened toward the rights. There were criticisms toward homosexuality in the early days of Milk. Gay men carried the labels of mentally ill or psychopathic. Often times, gay men committed suicide from harsh judgement and criticism that always followed them. Even though population of homosexuality grew and had jobs, they were harassed and beaten by the police. There were a lot of disapproval and hostility of homosexuality. Anita Bryant, a singer, made a campaign to oppose the rights of homosexuals. Christian forces and activists withdrew gay-right legislation which lead to Proposition 6. The harshness from background of homosexuality back in the 1940’s and 50’s took the freedom away from the homosexuals. After the harshness, there came a little bit of hope for the homosexuals in San Francisco. Castro, a city in San Francisco, became the center of gay neighborhood. In 1964, gay men formed Society of Individual Right (SIR), and 1,200 members joined. Homosexuals started having good views when Sipple who was gay saved the president from a gunshot. Finally in 1972, Board of Supervisor banned the discrimination law for homosexuals. Even though in 1940...
are said to have launched the “gay rights movement.” As the anger of many individuals,
In 1969, the US was preparing to land the first man on the moon, the first case of HIV/AIDS was confirmed, and members of the gay community were harshly discriminated against because of their sexuality. Family incomes had started to fluctuate and become unstable, and disputes with police were common among the population. On a mild Friday night in 1969, a riot broke out in Greenwich Village after a police raid that sparked rebellion. Police raids on bars that had patrons suspected of ...
The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as in the 1950's president Eisenhower banned gays from holding federal jobs and many state institutions did the same. The lead taken by the federal government encouraged local police forces to harass gay citizens. "Vice officers regularly raided gay bars, sometimes arresting dozens of men and women on a single night" (Milestones). In spite of the adversity, out of the 1950s also came the first organized groups of gays, including leaders. The movement was small at first, but grew exponentially in short periods of time. Spurred on by the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the "homophile" (Milestones) movement took on more visibility, picketing government agencies and discriminatory policies. By 1969, around 50 gay organizations existed in the United States. The most crucial moment in blowing the gay rights movement wide open was on the evening of July 27, 1969, when a group of police raided a gay bar in New York City. This act prompted three days of rioting in the area called the Stonewall Rio...
The Stonewall Riots were a catalyst for the gay rights movement not just in the United States, but also around the world. The first gay pride marches occurred in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York on June 28th, 1970, the one year anniversary of the Riots. Also, three LGBT newspapers printed soon after the demonstrations. In conclusion, the causes of the Stonewall Riots were anti-gay laws, NYPD corruption, and lack of media attention.
1920’s the 18th amendment banned the making, selling, and moving of alcohol (Sterbenz, 1). As