Stonewall Riots Essay

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.

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

At the time, homosexuality was still considered to be taboo. The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York, was raided and shut down by police quite frequently. The members of the bar had eventually grown sick of the harassment, so they began to fight back. The next day, over a thousand people were back. The Stonewall Riots began to inspire activists to form various gay rights advocacy groups. One year after the Stonewall Riots, the very first documented pride parades in the United States began to take place. They occurred in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and by the Stonewall Inn, the same bar that the riots had occurred at one year

I once had a friend who never read Harry Potter books. Why? Because someone in her school district decided the themes of witchcraft and sorcery were not proper for a Christian young woman. Examples of this and similar experiences bring up the question who has the right to decide what information you see. information is key to the human race. it is the reason that we have the planet. we are the only species that can learn from our mistakes. but troublingly, all across the country, information in places of learning is being swept under the rug. increasing censorship of school textbooks, libraries, and media is a misguided and poorly thought out attempt to force facts to fit on particular worldview. schools have fallen victim to this ideology, by being pressured to

Obviously, the gay community will not stop to remember the major events leading to gay liberation in the U.S. Those who witnessed the June 28, 1969 violent demonstrations by a group of gays at the Stonewall Inn, located in the Greenwich Village near Manhattan, New York City, will forever remember the impact of that early morning hours riots against police raid in the history of gay liberation movement.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer community also referred to as LGBTQQ is no stranger to oppression. “In 1600-1800, colonists discovered buggery (sex between men or between women) among Native Americans. In 1869, Dr. Karoly Benkert coined the term “homosexuality” to describe same-sex acts. In 1870-1910, homosexuals

The riot began while the bystanders were throwing bottles at the police officers; by being surrounded by approximately 400 people the police officers had no choice but to barricade them within the bar while waiting for reinforcement. Even though there were other protests by gay groups, the Stonewall riots was the first time gays, lesbians, and transgender individuals saw the value of uniting behind a common cause, which invoked similar context to the civil rights and feminist movement.

The next major event was the birth of the movement, The Stonewall Riots, which was the mother of all LGBT-themed associates and groups. There have been a large number of eyewitness accounts, articles and stories of how the riot began and ended, as well as what it immediately brought about. People began to start doing “radical” acts, one man decided to begin writing his college papers in terms of having a prominent gay

The 1960’s was a decade of great change in America, from civil rights for African Americans to equal rights for women, the American people were rising up and discovering that their voice in the political discourse was just as important as those they elected to office. One other such group that awakened and challenged the existing status quo that kept them silent and scared were the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities across the country. From the first large-scale associations of LGBT individuals that formed in San Francisco in the 1950’s to the political and social groups that came to be following the Stonewall Riots of 1969, they would speak out and not allow themselves to be kept down anymore. The aim of this paper is to establish the events and opinions that led up to the uprising at the Stonewall Inn such as perceived and real discrimination by police, medical professionals, and society itself, what actually happened at Stonewall, and how they sparked the modern LGBT movement in the United States over the next half century to the present day.

According to the article, Stonewall Inn Riots- 1969, the city administration in New York wanted to "improve" the city's image so they decided to have a "clean-up" campaign and close gay bars. New York's Greenwich Village was host to the first gay riots in history, taking place at a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn, on June 27, 1969.

“The movement has been so successful that LGBTQ+ members that had once lived on the streets, now are professors and doctors.” (cbsnews.com) The Stonewall Riots paved the way for the majority of LGBTQ+ rights events. For example, the first ever, “Pride Parade,” a parade that takes place every year, all over the world, to commemorate the actions of activists, to celebrate differences, and to express pride and culture. Often times these parades often also serve as demonstrations to protest for rights such as same-sex marriage. These events still happen to this day, and each year these parades grow and become more of a symbol for the perseverance and passion of the LGBTQ+ community.

Stonewall is known as the riot that kickstarted the movement for gay rights in America in 1969. Throughout the 1960’s the gay community was targeted for their homosexual activities because this went against the common beliefs of the people. Most of the population had the Christian belief that being interested in the same sex was against God’s will. This caused discrimination throughout the nation between members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender plus (LGBT+) community and the rest of the country. Due to this discrimination, many LGBT+ members felt like their rights were being violated by the government. On June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan, New York City, the community decided to fight back for their rights. They

On June 28, 1969 the Stonewall Riots were started in Greenwich Village at the Stonewall Inn a movement was sparked that would not be easily extinguished. The gay rights movement was started after that fateful encounter between police officers and patrons of the bar that was inside of the inn. The actual event occurred outside the inn in the late hours of the night, lasted six days, and launched the idea of sexual liberation into the view of the public. The police originally made the visit to the Stonewall Inn to investigate the claims made about the owners of the inn and

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

The gay liberation movement occurred in Greenwich Village, New York. In June 1969, police invaded the Stone Wall Inn, a bar for gays. The gay people at the club became angered by the police actions, because they felt that it was unprovoked harassment. They fought for several nights, refusing to have the bar closed. This incident, generally referred to as Stonewall, has been noted as the beginning of the awakening of gays into personal and sexual liberation.