Stonewall Riots Essay

In 1969 in Greenwich Village, New York, a 6 day riot took place that would launch the first Pride March and launch the Gay Rights movement as a national movement. The conflict was started when police raided the Stonewall bar, a bar that was a safe place for homosexuals to visit, and violence erupted between the two groups. In the end, homosexuals were granted more rights and gained more acceptance in American culture.

Living in a world where you’re scrutinized for being yourself is difficult, but living in a world where it’s illegal to be yourself is overwhelming and dehumanizing. Intolerance towards homosexuality had been very common in our society up until a point in time where LGBT+ people began to realize they were being denied basic civil rights that they should have had. The Stonewall riots took place when queer people had taken enough of discrimination and violence and began to band together to start the Gay Liberation Movement, a vital step towards equality for the LGBT+ community in their journey for civil rights.

Additional Information: I would need to supply general definitions of the LGBTQ community, as well as show that there was a significant population of these individuals living around the Stonewall Inn and benefitting from its progressive modes of operation. Once that community has been established, I would then take the time to explain the past tensions that members of the LGBTQ community have faced due to unnecessary violence at the hands of law enforcement individuals, in particular how those altercations would often turn

It was not uncommon for the New York Police Department Morals Task Force to raid gay bars. In fact, during the two decades leading up to the Stonewall Riots, the raids were more commonplace than naught. Many have speculated as to why the raids were common – some saying it was because of the Italian Mafia’s involvement in owning those establishments, and consequently forgetting to bribe the local police; others believe it to be based in bias, hatred, and ignorance of people different from oneself. In the Stonewall Inn’s specific case, it could have been a combination of both. The Inn, which was owned by the Mafia, was actually a bottle club, meaning they did not own a liquor license. You had to be a member to drink there. While these various theories are most likely true, as far as ancillary causes, the fact remains that there was an

Thomas Jonathan Jackson was a general who served in the Civil war. He was born on January 21, 1824 in Clarksburg, Virginia. Jackson’s Parents were Jonathon Jackson & Julia Beckwith Neale. He had 3 brothers and sisters. They were Elizabeth, Warren, and Laura Ann. Elizabeth and Warren were both older than him, and Laura Ann was younger.

With reference to the Stonewall riots of 1969, it is important to understand that the riot by the Lesbian and Gay Rights Movement came at a time when the civil rights movement was in its high peak. The riots for equality by the Gay and Lesbian groups and activists came at a time when Americans minority groups were fighting for identity in the typical American culture. Then again, it is significant to note that the trends that surround the Stonewall riots were the intense hatred towards the homosexual individuals that had hit the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. The Gay and Lesbian people had to seek solace in Homosexual perceived bars and night clubs as they feared for their life due to their ‘awkward’ sexual orientation at the time (Ruta, 2013). Similarly, another trend that characterized the Stonewall riot was the Cold War policies that had earmarked Homosexual individuals and organization as security threats. With the rising tension due to the cold war, the United States government had blacklisted Gay and Lesbian groups and individuals as an easy target for blackmail by the Communist groups. As a result, they faced constant harassment from police in the 1940s all through to the Stonewall riot in 1969. The uprising is as a result of the civil rights movement that allowed for many minorities and interest groups to come out and fight for their rights.

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?

Stonewall Jackson, born January 21, 1824 was one of the most famous confederate generals and one of the best officers to serve for General Robert E. Lee. But Jackson wasn’t just born a general, he earned it. Since his parents died when he was very young, life was very rough for him. He was raised by his uncle, Cummins Jackson, a miller who lived near what is now known as Weston, West Virginia.

In the book Gay Rights it states, “In 1969, the year the stonewall rebellion occurred, there were only 50 gays and lesbian organizations with a few thousands of members in the entire country.” It means that they were finally taking a stand and ready to fight back. What happened in the Stonewall is in June 28 1969 there was a gay club called the Stonewall. Police started to attack the gay and lesbians. Then after that the crowd of people started to throw bottles at the police. If I was there I would have done so much worse than that. There is one of the main events in the 1960’s Gay

Fifty years ago, in the early sixties, being gay was illegal in every providence in Canada, and in every single state in the United States. In the 1950’s, many gay individuals saw the men who had devoted their lives to being out and they knew what a horrible life that made for those men. This caused many gay men to “pass,” or live their entire lives in the closet. They would marry women for the soul purpose of protecting their secret. Before the stonewall riots, many Americans did not even believe gay people existed. Due to the lack of education and bigotry amongst Americans, being gay was very dangerous. Sexual acts in the gay community were commonly done in unsafe places and in public because they simply had nowhere else to go. Homosexuality was not just criminalized it was medicalized (Bawer). If you were gay, you could be subject to go into hospitals and were viewed by society as having a disability and a disease. In April of 1965, the very first gay protest took place in Washington DC. This protest was revolutionary and it began to pave the way for the future of gay men and women and reshape gay culture. In 1969, not long after the first gay protests of 1965, Canada decriminalized homosexual sexual acts in the privacy of one’s own home (Guerre). This was groundbreaking and gave the gay community hope that change was coming. Also, taking place in 1969 were the historic stonewall

The conflict was between the police of New York City and Gay Right actives outside of the Stonewall Inn, a bar were the gay rights movement was born. In 1969, homosexual relationships was illegal in New York City. The gay bars were where gay men and lesbians could socialize in safe place away from the public harassment, but many of those bars were subject to regular police harassment. A gathering location for many young gay men, lesbians, and transgender individual was Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village, which was an establishment which would run without a liquor

The Importance of the Stonewall Riots and Their Lasting Effects on the Gay Rights Movement

The Stonewall Inn was a bar located New York that catered to the LGBT population, regular patrons included gay men, drag queens, and transgender women; all from various ethnic backgrounds. As a visible hub for the queer community, the Stonewall Inn was frequently raided by police due to the political climate and negative attitudes towards homosexuality. On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided and rather than accept the harassment by police, a group of customers took a stand and a riot broke out. This riot led to other demonstrations and protests by LGBT groups demanding civil rights. The Stonewall riots are considered the catalyst of the gay liberation movement and annual pride marches take place around the world to commemorate the

In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people

Until the last half of the 20th century, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals were victims of discrimination in American society and in statutory laws, which limited their basic rights. On the night of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, and arrested three drag queens by using excessive force. Bar patrons and spectators, tired of police oppression, stood up and fought back. This was the first major protest based on equal rights for homosexuals. The Stonewall Riots became a turning point for the homosexual community in the United States sparking the beginning of the gay rights movement, and encouraged lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual, or "LGBT," to fight for their rights.