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Stonewall Riots Research Paper

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Stonewall Riots Civil Rights Paper
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.
Throughout history homosexuality had been seen as a sin and a punishable action. In the bible, in …show more content…

When police found out that the Stonewall Inn had been operating without a liquor license, however, they took the liberty of entering the bar and arresting the employees on shift that night as well as harassing dozens of patrons. In addition to the employees arrested, anyone not wearing at least three articles of “gender-appropriate” clothing was arrested in compliance with the law at the time. Other customers refused to stand by idly, watching their friends and allies be beaten and taken away, and began throwing glass bottles, bricks, trash, and whatever they could find at the police officers. So used to passive and acquiescent behavior from LGBT+ people, police officers were angered and called for reinforcements to barricade inside the bar. The night ended with rioters setting the bar on fire. In total, about 400 people rioted on that first night. In the next five days people continued to …show more content…

The death of the character Lexa from a popular show, The 100 angered many fans of the show. She was killed off by a stray bullet, a very common death for LGBT+ characters like Tara in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Denise from The Walking Dead. Fans of the show were convinced that their beloved character’s story would entail a different ending by the writers themselves via social media and interviews. After the episode that included her death aired, fans fought back with trends that spread awareness and called the network, the CW, out on the actions taken. Over 100,000 dollars were raised by fans for the Trevor Project, and organization that supports LGBT+ youth and actors on the show like Devon Bostick, Eliza Taylor, and Alycia Debnam-Carey (who played Lexa) showed their support and some even donated. In addition to the money raised they created billboards that sported phrases such as “LGBT viewers deserve better” and “Stop ‘burying your gays’”. They are making themselves heard and showing that they won’t stand for queer-baiting and

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