Franklin Kameny, “Stonewall: Myth, Magic and Mobilization,” Public Radio International, 1994. [source of pull quote] Despite having been torn apart by the cops, the Stonewall Inn opened before dark the next night (though it wasn’t serving alcohol). More and more supporters showed up, chanting slogans like “gay power” and “we shall overcome.” The social repression of the 1950s resulted in a cultural revolution in Greenwich Village. A cohort of poets, later named the Beat poets, wrote about the evils of the social organization at the time, glorifying anarchy, drugs, and hedonistic pleasures over unquestioning social compliance, consumerism, and closed-mindedness. Of them, Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs—both Greenwich Village residents—also wrote bluntly and honestly about homosexuality. Their writings attracted sympathetic liberal-minded people, as well as homosexuals looking for a community. [49]

The two buildings were constructed as stables in the mid-19th century. In 1930, they were combined with one façade to house a bakery. In 1934, Bonnie’s Stonewall Inn opened here as a popular Greenwich Village bar and restaurant, and operated until 1964, when the interior was destroyed by fire. In March 1965, the estate that had owned the property for over 150 years sold it, along with five adjacent properties, to Burt and Lucille Handelsman, who were wealthy real estate investors. At 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, June 28, 1969, four plainclothes policemen in dark suits, two patrol officers in uniform, Detective Charles Smythe, and Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine arrived at the Stonewall Inn's double doors and announced "Police! We're taking the place!" [72] The music was turned off and the main lights were turned on. Approximately 205 people were in the bar that night. Patrons who had never experienced a police raid were confused. A few who realized what was happening began to run for doors and windows in the bathrooms, but police barred the doors. Michael Fader remembered, US National Park Service (October 17, 2016). "Civil Rights at Stonewall National Monument". US Department of the Interior . Retrieved August 6, 2017. ; "Obama inaugural speech references Stonewall gay-rights riots". Archived from the original on May 30, 2013 . Retrieved January 21, 2013. Stonewall (2015), a drama about a fictional protagonist who interacts with fictionalized versions of some of the people in and around the riots The official 50th-anniversary commemoration of the Stonewall Uprising occurred on June 28 on Christopher Street in front of Stonewall Inn. The official commemoration was themed as a rally, in reference to the original rallies in front of Stonewall Inn in 1969. Speakers at this event included mayor Bill De Blasio, senator Kirsten Gillibrand, congressman Jerry Nadler, American activist X González, and global activist Rémy Bonny. [208] [209]

Eskow, Dennis (June 29, 1969). "4 Policemen Hurt in 'Village' Raid: Melee Near Sheridan Square Follows Action at Bar". The New York Times. p.33. (subscription required) In 1989, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the uprising, the section of Christopher Street in front of the Stonewall Inn was renamed Stonewall Place. The importance of Stonewall was further recognized with the installation of George Segal’s sculpture Gay Liberation in Christopher Park in 1992. a b National Historic Landmarks Program (2008). "Stonewall". National Park Service. Archived from the original on February 21, 2009 . Retrieved December 30, 2008. Thanks to activists’ efforts, these regulations were overturned in 1966, and LGBT patrons could then be served alcohol. But engaging in gay behavior in public (holding hands, kissing or dancing with someone of the same sex) was still illegal, so police harassment of gay bars continued and many bars still operated without liquor licenses—in part because they were owned by the Mafia. Gay Rights Before Stonewall Happy Birthday, Marsha! (2016), a short, experimental drama, inspired by some of the legends surrounding gay and transgender rights activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, set on the night of the riots

Although the Mattachine Society had existed since the 1950s, many of their methods now seemed too mild for people who had witnessed or been inspired by the riots. Mattachine recognized the shift in attitudes in a story from their newsletter entitled, "The Hairpin Drop Heard Around the World." [137] [note 10] When a Mattachine officer suggested an "amicable and sweet" candlelight vigil demonstration, a man in the audience fumed and shouted, "Sweet! Bullshit! That's the role society has been forcing these queens to play." [138] With a flyer announcing: "Do You Think Homosexuals Are Revolting? You Bet Your Sweet Ass We Are!", [138] the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was soon formed, the first gay organization to use gay in its name. Previous organizations such as the Mattachine Society, the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), and various homophile groups had masked their purpose by deliberately choosing obscure names. [139] Throughout June 2019, Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019, produced by Heritage of Pride in partnership with the I Love New York program's LGBT division, took place in New York to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. The final official estimate included 5 million visitors attending in Manhattan alone, making it the largest LGBTQ celebration in history. [13] June is traditionally Pride month in New York City and worldwide, and the events were held under the auspices of the annual NYC Pride March. An apology from New York City Police Commissioner James P. O'Neill, on June6, 2019, coincided with WorldPride being celebrated in New York City. O'Neill apologized on behalf of the NYPD for the actions of its officers at the Stonewall uprising in 1969. [14] [15] Photos: 7 LGBT Heroes Honored With Plaques in Chicago's Legacy Walk". The Advocate. October 11, 2014 . Retrieved May 29, 2015. Workforce Diversity The Stonewall Inn, National Historic Landmark National Register Number: 99000562". National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior . Retrieved May 1, 2011.Nightclub Destroyed". Miami Herald. March 3, 1974. p.2-B . Retrieved October 30, 2022– via newspapers.com.

The 2018 short film Happy Birthday, Marsha! is a fictional account of the lives of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera in the hours leading up to the Stonewall uprising, featuring Mya Taylor as Johnson. [40]While the community has always included all LGBT people, the one-word unifying term in the 1950s through the early 1980s was gay (see Gay liberation). Later ('70s/80s) this was expanded by many groups to lesbian and gay, then by the '90s and '00s to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT). Also by the late eighties and early nineties, queer began to be reclaimed as a one-word alternative to the ever-lengthening string of initials, especially when used by radical political groups. [3] Nakamura, David; Eilperin, Juliet (June 24, 2016). "With Stonewall, Obama designates first national monument to gay rights movement". Washington Post . Retrieved June 24, 2016. Though the Stonewall uprising didn’t start the gay rights movement, it was a galvanizing force for LGBT political activism, leading to numerous gay rights organizations, including the Gay Liberation Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD (formerly Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), and PFLAG (formerly Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Very few establishments welcomed gay people in the 1950s and 1960s; those that did were often run by organized crime groups, due to the illegal nature of gay bars at the time. The homophobic legal system of the 1950s and 1960s [note 2] [16] prompted early homosexual groups in the US to prove gay people could be assimilated into society, and such early groups favored non-confrontational education for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. However, the last years of the 1960s saw activity among many social/political movements, including the civil rights movement, the counterculture of the 1960s, and the anti-Vietnam War movement. Such influences served as catalysts for the Stonewall riots. A year after the uprising, to mark the anniversary on June28, 1970, the first gay pride marches took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco. [11] Within a few years, gay rights organizations were founded across the US and the world. Today, LGBT Pride events are held annually worldwide in June in honor of the Stonewall riots.

With his students, he says he has “arrived at a fairly broad consensus that we need a both/and politics. We need a politics that is at once pragmatic and radical. We need different kinds of change agents, working in different locations with different tactics, to achieve these larger aspirations.” Humm, Andy (May 29, 2015). "Exclusive: Stonewall Inn Appears Headed for City Landmark Status – A Gay First". Gay City News. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018 . Retrieved May 29, 2015. Activist Madeline Davis wrote the folk song "Stonewall Nation" in 1971 after attending her first gay civil rights march. Released on Mark Custom Recording Service, it is widely regarded as the first gay liberation record, with lyrics that "celebrate the resiliency and potential power of radical gay activism." [225] Feature Doc 'Pay It No Mind: The Life & Times of Marsha P. Johnson' Released Online". Indiewire. December 26, 2012 . Retrieved February 17, 2015. The exact breakdown of who did what first remains unclear—in part because this was long before the smartphone era and there was minimal documentation of the night's events.The Gay Liberation Front was the main organisation that formed out of the uprising and these wider movements. The GLF first formed in the US and were part of the original discussions to create the first Pride, which took place on June 28 1970 in New York City, a year after the Stonewall riots - then called the Christopher Street Day Parade. When police raided Stonewall Inn on the morning of June 28, it came as a surprise—the bar wasn’t tipped off this time.