The LGBT Rights Movement

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.

In 2016 President Obama named the Stonewall Inn as the first National monument to LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Questioning, Asexual, Intersex) rights. In history classes, we learned that movements can lead to progression to break down and change constitutional law, and the mindset of society. We hear about the civil rights movement, women’s rights and even the labor movement; but seldom do we hear about the gay rights movement. Many people say that the LGBTQIA community has been fighting since 1912 or WWII, but all can agree that the Stonewall riots started gay liberation and changed the LGBTQ community forever.

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 Stonewall Inn was a gay bar in New York City and it was the starting place of the Gay Liberation Movement. In the 1970s gay men and lesbians started wanting equality because they faced lots of legal discrimination. They didn’t have equal rights because they couldn’t even have consensual sex with their partners and it was illegal in almost all states. So in 1969 police raided the Stonewall Inn and gay men fought the police and proclaimed “Gay Power.” This event caused riots between the New York City police and all the gay residents.

The struggle for gay rights was not always publicized due to fear for being “ill” for thinking that way. The fight for rights was known in the mental health community as an illness. In the courts where same-sex couples would be denied the right to marry, from the Stonewall riots to the U.S. Supreme Court decision on June 26 of this year, the evolvement and difficulty of those fighting.

In today's era, one of the most progressive civil rights movements is that of the LGBT+ community. For many decades, gays, transgenders, and other queers have been under fire for who they love and who they are. On June 28th, 1969, a group of queers subjected to police brutality took a chance to stand up for themselves. Thus starting one of the most widely revered LGBT+ movements: the Stone Wall Riots. This group of courageous men and women (and those in between) were pioneers in the United States gay rights activism, and can even be considered the spark to LGBT+ rights.

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.

The Stonewall Riots in 1969 leading to the first Gay Pride Parade in 1970 started a public discourse on LGBT rights (The Stonewall Riots). In the years to follow, two opposing mass movements manifested: the LGBT movement and the Religious Right movement. The LGBT movement aimed to get equal rights for homosexuals. The Religious Right focused on stopping the perceived moral decay of America and protecting children from lesbians and gays. While these movements had polar opposite goals, they used surprisingly similar methods to get their messages across.

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

Stonewall, HIV/AIDS, and the adoption crises are the major events that raised awareness for LGBT rights and ultimately led to the Obergefell v. Hodges supreme court case victory.

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Such raids were not unusual in the late 1960s, an era when homosexual sex was illegal in every state but Illinois. That night, however, the street erupted into violent protests and demonstrations that lasted for the next six days. This was the background of Stonewall Uprising, a documentary telling the story of the massive police raid and the riots of Stonewall in June 1969. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world. (Kanopy) From that moment, homosexual people started to realize that they should fight for their natural rights, spare no effort to achieve American spirit by pursuing equality and freedom and even help push the process of legalizing homosexuality.

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.

The climate of the 1960s was turbulent. This decade was marked by many political movements, which reflected support for non-establishment themes. During this time the “sexual liberation movement” became a popular cause. This intensified social and political interest helped many disadvantaged groups to receive support and attention that previously had never been received. As part of the nation’s desire for sexual political liberation, gay liberation became visible.

According to the data bank of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (organization founded in 1950 and that has led the fight for equal rights and social justice in The United States of America for over half a century) the origin of the modern LGBTQ+ civil rights movement can be traced back to the Stonewall Inn, a little gay bar in New York. (Civilrightsorg, 2016)

Robinson, J. M. (2011, June). The LGBT movement springs from the stonewall riots. State Magazine, (557), 9. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.davenport.edu/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA261452961&v=2.1&u=lom_davenportc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=e18ca598fedf2f801be43e9f661ba897