Stonewall Riots Research Paper

Purpose: David Carter wrote “Stonewall” to function as a complete analyzation of the riots of 1969. He wanted to create a reliable source of education over the “what,when, where, why, how?” of Stonewall. To support this, Carter states in his prologue, “how these various strands [of homophobic events] eventually came together to create a turning point for the gay rights movement is the subject of this history”(2).

Research Question: My research question involves the history of the LGBTQ community’s relationship with law enforcement, particularly around the time when the community had little to no support or protection under the jurisdiction of the United States. I am expanding my knowledge on the Stonewall Riot’s coverage within the media to discover if the framing of the protesters as militant was used to rally support behind a police force with a heteronormative agenda, in order to point out the biases that would have been overlooked in the original coverage of this event.

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

This article from the New York Post helped us understand the pain the LGBT+ community had to go through on a daily basis. Additionally, it included details on how and why the police raided gay bars such as Stonewall Inn.

On this Saturday morning, the police attempted a raid on the Stonewall Inn, but the bar patrons were not cooperating with orders, and the officers present had to call for backup. Patrons that were not arrested, instead of leaving, stayed outside the bar to watch the commotion, and soon were joined by passerby’s until a crowd of over 150 people formed outside the bar. The crowd didn’t turn violent until the police hit a lesbian in the head and threw her in the back of their car because she complained about her handcuffs.

The public profile taken by some gays who felt that individuals should be able to live as they wanted without harassment. The police reacted by raiding gay bars and closing them down. When they attempted to the raid the Stonewall Inn, they expected that they would simply take their arrests without complaint, as they had usually done in the past. But on the night of June 27, 1969 took a turn that the police were not expecting. The LGBT this time however fought back instead of submitting.

Being in the closet as gay, lesbian, transgender, or bisexual is very frightening, but since the U.S has evolved into a more accepting and loving country, people in the LGBTQ+ community are more free to express themselves. Organizations like the Stonewall Youth, which “is an organization of youth, activists, and allies that empowers [LGBTQ+] youth to speak for themselves, educate their communities, and support each other” (“Stonewall Youth”). Stonewall Youth, which is an organization that branched off from the Stonewall Inn protests, protects kids in the LGBTQ+ community that might be facing discrimination at home or at school. Because of the Stonewall Protests that brought more attention to the fight for equality, Stonewall youth was created. After being able to understand what exactly happened in 1969 through news reports and hearing from protesters, “...many consider the Stonewall riots to be the launch of the modern gay rights movement, and a symbol of ‘coming out of the closet’—of homosexuals no longer hiding or denying their sexual orientation” (Ritter). Before the fight for gay rights sparked with the Stonewall riots, being out of the closet as gay, bisexual, lesbian, or transgender was considered illegal. Sometimes if someone was found being involved in homosexual interactions, they could face a life sentence. Now,

One of the many important protests was the Stonewall riots in which “police officers attempt to raid the popular gay bar […] trying to clean up the neighborhood of "sexual deviants (Haney)." As society aged, the backlash from the changing form of sexuality had slowed however many homosexuals were still afraid to be openly gay. Despite the fight being lengthy and sluggish, when homosexuality was removed from the American Psychiatric Association the idea of homosexuality began to change among members who identified as heterosexual. Despite no longer being classified as mentally ill, individuals were still denied many basic rights such as jobs, marriage, and even a sense of security; in fact they were denied the unalienable right all minorities had to fight for: the pursuit of

Within the text we learned the basic events that happened during the Stonewall riot. The police raided

The Stonewall Inn on 53 Christopher Street, New York, was a place for people of the LGBT+ community to go and be with others just like them. People of all kinds came to the bar, the main patrons gay street youth, drag queens, and variations of gay people. In the 1960’s, homosexuality was considered a crime, causing the police to make frequent raids on the building, but the bar was run by mafia

On the Jersey Shore, trouble started roughly around 8 p.m. It started when Miss Dolores Shannon, a 26 years old, African American, was arrested on a disorderly conduct charge. According to the police, she was drunk and had been shouting and screaming. As they were taking her into custody, a man sooner identified as Walker Mays was said to have been interfering with the police and as a result he was also arrested. They were both taken to the Fourth Precinct station house at Com­munipaw Avenue. After word got out of the arrest, soon afterward, about 40 African Americans marched to the station house, chanting charges of police bru­tality. As it died down the crowd started to leave about a half an hour later. However, returning at about 10 P.

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.

On July 8, 2016, many news stations told us about the protest that ended with five officers’ shot and killed and many more injured in Dallas, Texas. (iotwreport.com, 2016). After all the chaos happened the police started pushing people out of the area for the safety of everyone. Hundreds of the protesters ended up at the intersection of Griffin and San Jacinto, mainly in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven. News reporters had originally parked there to get the scene of the shooting and now were stuck in the parking lot surrounded by protesters. Reporters say some of the people were “belligerent and drunk” and started to taunt the police. (Jenny Q, 2016). People were taking advantage of the chaos that was happening. They headed into the store and

What could be argued as the spark that started the modern LGBTQ rights movement started at 3 in the morning of June 28, 1969 after a raid of Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, New York City, New York. Many gay bars had trouble getting licenses to serve alcohol, including Stonewall Inn, because “the New York Liquor Authority prohibits serving gay patrons in bars on the basis that homosexuals are ‘disorderly’"(PBS). The raid was legally justified and the

There were many Past issues on homosexuals being treated unfair, for example, police harassment, History.com stated that on June 28 1969 in New York the Stonewall riots were taking place. Later in the night a little after three a.m., police raided Stonewall Inn, a gay nightclub, which then turned into a riot protested by homosexuals. Even though the police had a reason to raid their nightclubs , for serving liquor without a liquor license. New york's gay community had gotten tired of the law enforcement targeting gay clubs, many of which that have been closed. The rioters then began to throw bottles at the police and made their way into the neighborhood streets of new York, the riot didn't end until the police called in their riot police. The riot was then followed by continuous days of demonstrations in New York and also was the reason for the start of a formation of the Gay Liberation Front as well as other same sex and bisexual civil rights