The Relationship Between The 1950's And The 1960s

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by people who were apart of the LGBT community against the police raid that happened on the morning of July 28,1969, at the Stonewall Inn, located in Manhattan, New York City. It’s believed that Sylvia Rivera, a trans woman, was the first one who rightfully threw the first brick. These events are widely considered to be the single most important event leading to the LGBT liberation movement and the current fight for LGBT rights in America.

Stonewall Riots: the Events that Sparked the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement When most think of the gay rights movement of today, most realize that it is all very progressive, and many people, regardless of gender or sexuality, fully support the movement. Although this is the case now, things for the LGBTQ+ community have not always this accepting. According to a popular news website, "[The LGBTQ+ community] were viewed as some kind of freak show," said Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt. "Something to be avoided." (cbsnews.com) Around the mid 20th century and before, anyone who did not identify, or was suspected of not identifying as straight was highly discriminated against, and, in most cases, persecuted.

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

The American home front during World War II is recalled warmly in popular memory and cultural myth as a time of unprecedented national unity, years in which Americans stuck together in common cause. World War II brought many new ideas and changes to American life. Even though World War II brought no physical destruction to the United States mainland, it did affect American society. Every aspect of American life was altered by U.S. involvement in the war including demographics, the labor force, economics and cultural trends.

Early in the morning of June 28, 1969, the habitual bar raids continued to occur in the streets of New York. However, one raid soon took a different turn compared to all the previous raids. The LGBT community had enough and decided to take a stand against the unjust acts of the New York Police Department, which would forever change LGBT history. The Stonewall Riots were preceded by several years of mistreatment, and began when a beloved gay bar was raided; this created a major impact on LGBT rights and activism.

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

World War II (WWII) had an immense effect on the United States; culturally, economically, and industrially. Although no battles were fought on American soil, the war affected all phases of American life. Among the infinite of changes experienced by Americans during this time, there was a big shift in the industrial complex, a re-imagining of the role of women in society, and economic boost. Social shifts began to shape a new national identity which would change the country forever.

In 1969, the blatant harassment of the LGBT led to an uprising called Stonewall. The Stonewall uprising was a series of violent demonstration by the gay community against a police raid that occurred earlier. Stonewall spurred the once hidden gay community to fight back against their oppressors. After the uprising, many lesbian and gay individuals joined together in protest, which spread all over the country. Subsequently--a year later--it lead to the first gay pride parade in US history.

Stonewall is a memorable event in queer history, a two-night stand by 2000 lesbians and gays against the police brutality happening to them during 1969, when they demanded their rights as free American citizens.

World War II was a very important event in American history, but as bad as war is or seems to be there always seems to have better outcomes in the end. By the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and bringing America into the war it opened the eyes of all Americans to the problems not only domestically but internationally and the biggest problem that was discovered after the completion of World War II was the level of social equality around the world. It had been a problem that had plagued the world for many years but the atrocities that brought about by the war coupled with the ever growing eye of the media caused for greater concern in the light of social equality in the world.

In the early hours of morning on June 28th, 1969, New York City, hundreds gathered; All of them connected and protesting for their rights. In Greenwich Village, a poor Manhattan neighborhood, stood a bar where people of all ages, different identities and walks of life came to. The Stonewall Inn had become a sanctuary for many people gave them a chance to be themselves without worry of being accepted, treated unfairly or cruelly because of their sexual identity. During this time in history, there were not many places to go where people could openly be themselves, whether they may be gay, lesbian or transgendered. Some got thrown out of school or the service for being gay and

Although the gay rights movement did not hit an all time high in the 1960s, it still had an influence in the social protests of the 1960s. Every minor protest had a major impact on the progress of the gay rights movement. An example of this would be what happened at Stonewall Inn. June 28, 1969. Local police shut down the Stonewall Inn in New York City, which was used as a safe place for gays to go.

Another huge social and cultural change during this time was the gay liberation movement. During the 1960’s, many groups decided to fight for their rights and equality. One of these groups was the gay and lesbian members of society. Many of these individuals were discriminated against and had no rights, but they decided enough was enough. In the 1960’s, gays decided to begin the fight for their own rights. One example of this was made after New York officers decided to raid the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York’s very own Greenwich Village on June 27, 1969. This type of raid was not unusual, being that many police officers made it a habit of raiding gay and lesbian bars. This became known as the “Stonewall Riot”, which many view as the starting point of the gay liberation movement. The gay liberation movement was the fight by gays and lesbians for equal rights, one of these rights being the right to not be discriminated against, and most importantly, to be able to openly “come out” to their family and friends. The gay liberation movement helped to impact our current times greatly. Today, a gay person has rights just like anyone else. A gay

Often times the phrase, “the first pride was a riot,” is used amongst the LGBTQ community in reference to what is commonly cited as the spark that started the modern gay rights movement. This event is known as the Stonewall Riots, an uprising against the NYPD that occurred as a response to police raids of gay bars. in the 60’s bars were one of the only places in which gay people felt safe enough to be themselves, and so these places became hotspots for New York City’s “undesirables,” from gay men and homeless gay youth, to butches, transwomen, and drag queens. These gay bars were also subject to regular police raids in which the patrons were harassed and arrested by cops, that is until the patrons of the Stonewall Inn stood up against the abuse on June 27, 1969, (Franke-Ruta 2013). It is said that the riot was led by Black and Latina transwomen, notably Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. To commemorate the beginnings of the modern gay rights movement, June is celebrated around the world as gay pride month, most countries (including the United States) recognizing the month as such.

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.