Gays In The 1960's

Through the 1940s-50s, gay bars were a crucial time for the gay community. Gay bars were not just a place for gays and lesbians to go to but it also was a “safe haven” for them because they were be able to be comfortable in their own skin. Homosexual men had more “freedom” to express themselves in public (such as parks, and bars) than homosexual women. The only places that homosexual women could express themselves were at lesbian bars. Lesbian bars enabled them to form their identity, including black lesbians. According to Elizabeth Kennedy and Madeline Davis, in their article “I Could Hardly Wait to Get Back to that Bar,” they define a lesbian bar as “a place where patrons felt relatively safe,” (33). This quote demonstrates the fact that

Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their

This investigation assesses the New York City Stonewall Riots of 1969, concerning their influence on the rise of the modern gay rights movement, specifically regarding political emergence, social unity, and demographic shifts. The investigation will attempt to answer the following question: To what extent were the Stonewall Riots of 1969 a catalyst for the LGBT social movement in America?

The 1960’s was a change for the world. One of the major things that happened was the Gay Liberation. The 1960’s was a sensitive decade. Would you want to be punished for your sexuality or liking the same gender.? NO, you shouldn’t. You don’t choose who you like or how you feel.

The story of gay In the U.S. today is completely different from the way it was in the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1950s and 1960s, gay people were only welcomed by a few establishments such as bars. During that period, the Stonewall Inn, owned by the Mafia, was very popular among the downgraded people in the gay community.

Crime groups used the fragile times and division of the people to solicit money from gay clientele, and by the mid 60’s the Genovese crime family controlled more than half of the Greenwich Village gay bar including Stonewall Inn. Like some of the other inns Stonewall was a registered “bottle bar” or a bar that did not require a liquor license because its audience were to bring their own liquor. To keep the Inns false exclusivity and privacy the Genovese family would bribe the Sixth Precinct to keep quiet about what happens or more over what doesn’t happen at the Inn. Without the police the crime family could cut costs and blackmail those of a higher status for more money to keep their secret. Stonewall eventually became a very important part of Greenwich culture being cheap, large, and a place for runaway and homeless gay youth. Nevertheless, riots were still a part of the Greenwich lifestyle, usually the cops would tip off Mafia-ran bars, but in the case of the Stonewall Inn time wasn’t on their

Johnson wrote: “In 1950 many politicians, journalists, and citizens thought that homosexuals posed more of a threat to national security than Communists…. By November… the “purge of the perverts” resulted in the dismissal of nearly six hundred federal servants. In the state Department alone, security officials boasted that on average they were firing one homesexual per day, more than double the rate of those suspected of political disloyalty.” (Eaklor 87) tells of how this mentality affected the heteronormative society of a war torn world and how that brought about the genocide of federal, minority employees. As seen in the text above, homosexual individuals were seen as worse than their heterosexual counterparts because they were thought to be destroying the American way of life as well as, traditional values given by the society brought about by conservative, warmonger-esque tendencies. Therefore, they were banned from federal employment which, made it difficult to find other work because of the severity of losing federal work.

Though there were many groups appearing to help shape the way for gay civil rights, there were also organizations trying to prevent gay people from gaining any ground.

The government, knowing very little about people and hardly any evidence would take anyone they thought was suspicious of anything odd for questioning and if they were suspected of homosexuality they would be fired right away. The government thought people who were gay were disloyal to the United States and made it so gay and lesbian people were without jobs in the state departments, which later started the Gay Rights Movement and till this day is still a very controversial topic. Not so much within employment in government jobs but more of people not being able to love and marry the people they please. Any person who was thought to be gay or lesbian were perceived as a security risk because they were thought of as disloyal to the United States and were discriminated against. People had a hard time distinguishing between political disloyalty and security risk.

It was approximately three a.m. on the twenty-eighth of June, 1969 when outside the Stonewall Inn, a monumental riot began. On Christopher Street in New York City, a police raid had just taken place in the gay bar due to the selling of liquor without a license, and arrests were made to anyone without a minimum of three articles of gender appropriate clothing on in accordance to New York law. This was one of several police raids that occurred in a gay bar in such a small amount of time, and the LGBT community made their anger very clear that morning. The event that took place as a result of these raids known as the Stonewall Riots became the catalyst for the Gay Liberation Front, and the Gay Activist Alliance, as well as many new

Shortly after this act, practicing ‘sexual deviants’ enlisted within the U.S Civil Service had been immediately fired after an investigation consisting of 192 suspects, most of which lost their posts after the accusations. These investigations began after a myriad of Republican accusations saying that the “Federal civil service was a hotbed of ‘sex perversion’”, (Belderman, ‘The Observer’), and were initiated by then-President Truman’s administration. During this time, the ownership of an alcohol license was immensely important, and could be revoked upon recognition that the bar was ‘disorderly’. Up until the year 1967, selling alcohol to homosexuals could result in a bar being deemed disorderly, thus closing it down. While the state of New York overturned this law, a multitude of other states such as Miami maintained them, hence prohibiting the liquor licenses to, “knowingly sell to, serve to or allow consumption of alcoholic beverages by a homosexual person, lesbian or pervert … or to knowingly allow two or more persons who are homosexuals, lesbians or perverts to remain in his place of business”. However, the removal of this law in New York did not stop the constant raids on rumoured gay bars and clubs, resulting in the abolishment of these businesses’ alcohol licenses, and the arrest of countless individuals found inside. Those arrested thought to be gay had their names published in reports and newspapers, ensuing a possible job loss the following

In spite of the fact that homophobia existed before the Cold War, there wasn’t much attention towards targeting homosexuals until then. The end of World War II began to bring forth the intense persecution by not only excluding homesexuals in the military, but by also excluding them from civil service. President Truman’s want to aid Greece and Turkey, expressed in his address, was rooted from fear that Communist forces in those countries will take over the U.S. This implemented an executive order of a loyalty program in the government, in which the State Department attempted to partake in. The State Department began to fire homosexual employees, even though Truman’s executive order did not refer to one’s sexuality. Moreover, Joseph Mccarthy’s claim of Communists in the State Department gained mass

By 1969 there were roughly fifty Homophile organizations in the United States with memberships of a few thousand each. Around this same time, groups of prominent gays and lesbians in the United States began to advocate openly for equal rights. Among these were the Mattachine Society, an advocacy group for gay men, and the Daughters of Bilitis, which, like its male counterpart, “served as a support network for homosexuals who felt maltreated by or secluded from mainstream society” (“Gay Rights Movement”). Both establishments hoped to present a picture of gays and lesbians as no different from heterosexual citizens. However, these organizations were forced to operate largely in secret and under ambiguous names to conceal their purpose. Neither of these groups attracted more than a few hundred members. Therefore, while there was some organized activity for gay rights, the gay community throughout the United States was still essentially underground in the late 1960s. Its bars were only open as long as the police allowed them to stay open and it wasn’t unusual for the police to close down certain gay bars for weeks as a time. In June 1969, the NYPD shut down a number of clubs and bars, but the Stonewall Inn remained open.

In the 1960s homosexual activists were not an important part of the lawless coalition. The focus was mainly on antiwar protestors, who were crowding the streets of the nation, requiring the complete reconstitution of American society. Homosexuals as well as gay rights activist were nearly nonexistent. Homosexuality was both hidden and stigmatized. Being gay or lesbian in most Western countries, especially in the United States, meant a mostly sneaky, shameful, and guilt-ridden life, with strong social condemnations against them. They avoided publicity and remained “in the closet” throughout the decade. The sixties counterculture was as sexist and homophobic as the mainstream culture at that time.

Gay discrimination has been present for many years in the United States history. In colonial America homosexuality was regulated with harsh penalties but was rarely enforced (Chauncey 1). Between the 1930’s and 1960’s, Discrimination of homosexuality peeked (Chauncy 1). Homosexual men and