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Stonewall Riots
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The Stonewall Riots were the beginning and the defining moment for the contemporary gay and lesbian liberation movement. Although such homophile groups as Mattachine and Daughters of Bilitis existed in the 1950s and 1960s it was at Stonewall in June 1969 that actual revolt happened. But the Stonewall Riots and the Gay Liberation Front would not have happened were it not for the enormous social vitality of the times--the Black Power movement, the second wave of feminism, the youth culture, the civil rights movement, the drug culture, the hippies, yippies and rock and roll. Without them, the raid on the Stonewall Inn would have been one more petty police harassment against one more mob-owned drinking hole that imprisoned another dozen queens. The words "Gay Power" were a re-visioning of "Black Power. " The phrase "Gay Liberation" was a tribute to the already existing cultural power of "women's liberation." The energy that erupted on Christopher Street that night was prompted by the energy of rock and roll and the drug and street culture.
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Since the advent of the gay liberation movement in 1969 -- the direct result of the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village -- there has been a plethora of writing about the lives of gay men and lesbians. Much of this has been done by people who were already "out" by the mid-1970s. Generation Q is a collection of essays, memoirs, recollections and thoughts by young people who were just being born in 1969. Ranging from humorous commentary to serious examinations of what it means to be a young gay man in the middle of the AIDS epidemic, this is an important, moving and challenging look at the problems and the pleasures facing young gay people today, for it tells us not only about our youthful presence but our future as well.
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Though not specifically related to the marriage movement at the time, the Stonewall Riots of June, 1969 have relevance to today’s move for the freedom to marry, being considered the start of the modern gay rights movement. Hence, June is now gay-pride month, but with parades instead of riots.
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The following year, in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots, the GLF organized a march from Greenwich Village to Central Park. Between 5,000 and 10,000 men and women attended the march. Many gay pride celebrations choose the month of June to hold their parades and events to celebrate “The Hairpin Drop Heard Round the World" (D'Emilio 232). Many major American cities including New York City, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis and Columbus as well as other cities such as Toronto hold Gay Pride Marches on the last Sunday of June, in honor of Stonewall. Other cities such as Anchorage, Baltimore, Boston, Des Moines, Detroit, Kansas City, Salt Lake City, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Washington, DC hold their pride parade in June but not on the last Sunday of the month. Still others, such as Dallas, Texas and Palm Springs, California, hold their celebration in another month entirely.
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The Stonewall Riots are generally thought of as the first major turning point for the gay rights movement, as it was the first time a significant number of gay citizens resisted arrest. By the end of July, the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), had formed in New York, and similar organizations were formed throughout the world. In commemoration of Stonewall, the following year the GLF held a march from Greenwich Village to Central Park. Between 5,000 to 10,000 people attended.
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A month after the Stonewall Riots, the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was formed. Radical and leftist in orientation, the GLF was but one of many politically focused lesbian and gay organizations that formed in the wake of the riots, both in the United States and around the world.
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Stonewall Riots