The Stonewall Uprising & LGBT Rights
In New York City, it was illegal for gay people to drink in bars until 1966. When the law was overturned, police used other methods to harass gay people out in public.
An arcane 1845 law made it a crime to have your “face painted, discolored, covered, or concealed, [while] in a road or public highway.” This was intended to stop farmers from dressing like American Indians to fight off tax collectors. Police used it to arrest gay men and women.
The Stonewall Inn was one of the few places in New York where gay people could drink and dress as they pleased. This was because the Stonewall was owned by the mafia. The Genovese crime family left an envelope full of cash for police each week so that it could operate.
One frequent attendee at the Stonewall was Stormé DeLarverie. Born in New Orleans to a Black mother and a white father in 1920, Stormé was an MC, singer, and bouncer who performed as a "male impersonator" at the Apollo Theater and Radio City Music Hall.
In the early-morning hours of June 28, 1969, New York police raided the Stonewall Inn. These police raids on gay bars were frequent, occurring on average once a month for each bar. Police would check IDs and take customers dressed as women to the bathroom to verify their gender. Any people dressed in non-gender conforming clothing would be arrested.
A scuffle broke out when Stormé DeLarverie was handcuffed and escorted from the bar. She briefly broke free, but was grabbed by four policemen and struck on the head with a baton after she complained that her handcuffs were too tight.
Bystanders recalled that DeLarverie sparked the crowd to fight when she looked at bystanders and shouted, "Why don't you guys do something?"
After an officer picked DeLarverie up and heaved her into the back of the wagon, the crowd became violent.
Many patrons at the Stonewall felt like they had endured enough and wanted to fight back against the harassment and violence they had experienced for years.
Bottles and bricks were thrown at officers who wielded batons at patrons inside. Others in the crowd chanted, "Gay rights, gay rights, gay rights."
A crowd gathered again the next night and galvanized a movement for gay rights.
Christopher Street Liberation Day was held in New York on the first anniversary of the uprising at Stonewall. Similar marches were held on the same date in Los Angeles and Chicago and became the first Gay Pride marches in American history.
The following year, dozens of cities across the world added Gay Pride marches on the anniversary. New York City's march covered 51 blocks, from Christopher Street to Central Park, with marchers filling up the entire street for about 15 city blocks.
The number of gay rights groups in America went from about 60 before Stonewall to 2,500 in just two years.
Today, LGBT Pride events are held in June each year across the world in honor of the Stonewall Uprising.