Stonewall: the beginning of the gay rights movement
The Stonewall was a small gay bar in New York City’s West Village that has become one of the most important landmark’s in gay rights history. About forty years ago the New York City gay community rioted against police brutality, and sparked the modern gay rights movement.
In the 1960s it was quite common for the police to raid New York City gay bars, for really no good reason at all. During the summer of 1969, the Stonewall in was raided by New York City police officers, but this time the gay community had decided that they had had enough.
While the police were raiding the bar, a crowd of over four hundred people gathered in the streets as the officers began arresting people from the bar at random.
The crowd eventually grew to be in the thousands, and soon the mob of gay people took to the streets chanting “gay power” and throwing bottles and trash cans.
The crowd, which eventually grew to an estimated 2000 strong, was fed up. Something about that night ignited years of anger at the way police treated gay people. Chants of “Gay Power!” echoed in the streets. Soon, beer bottles and trash cans were flying.
More police arrived, attempting to beat the crowd into submission, but the angry protesters continued to fight back.
The crowd didn’t disperse until about 4 am, but then the very next night the protestors returned. The group was ever larger than the night before. For several hours protestors rioted in the streets until a riot control squad was sent.
The following week over one thousand protesters returned to march on Christopher Street, and thus the gay civil rights movement began.
The Stonewall riots turned out to be a monumental moment in the gay rights movement. It united the gay community in New York City to fight against discrimination against gays and lesbians.
The next year, a special march was organized in honor of the Stonewall Riots and this time nearly 10,000 gays and lesbians were in attendance. This was the first ever Gay Pride Parade in New York City. Since that time, the Gay Pride Parade has been held every year.
Today, the Stonewall bar is still a very popular gay night club in New York City. The bar still occupies a part of the original Stonewall Inn, and attracts both locals andtourists alike who wish to pay tribute to this important gay rights landmark.
