Gay and lbian bars and clubs have often been sanctuari. Sometim those sanctuari have e unr siege.
Contents:
- JUNE 28 MARKS 14 YEARS SCE THE POLICE RAID OF A FORT WORTH GAY BAR
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF ATTACKS AT GAY AND LBIAN BARS
- THE STONEWALL RTS DIDN’T START THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
JUNE 28 MARKS 14 YEARS SCE THE POLICE RAID OF A FORT WORTH GAY BAR
The Stonewall Rts, also lled the Stonewall Uprisg, took place on June 28, 1969, New York Cy, after police raid the Stonewall Inn, a lol gay club. The raid sparked a rt among bar patrons and neighborhood rints as police hled employe and patrons out of the bar, leadg to six days of protts and vlent clash. The Stonewall Rts served as a talyst for the gay rights movement. * raid of a gay bar *
The Stonewall Rts, also lled the Stonewall Uprisg, began the early hours of June 28, 1969 when New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a gay club loted Greenwich Village New York Cy. The Stonewall Rts served as a talyst for the gay rights movement the Uned Stat and around the world. Constant Raids at Gay BarsThe 1960s and precedg s were not welg tim for lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) Amerins.
For stance, solicatn of same-sex relatns was illegal New York such reasons, LGBT dividuals flocked to gay bars and clubs, plac of refuge where they uld exprs themselv openly and socialize whout worry. However, the New York State Liquor Authory penalized and shut down tablishments that served alhol to known or spected LGBT dividuals, argug that the mere gatherg of homosexuals was “disorrly.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ATTACKS AT GAY AND LBIAN BARS
But engagg gay behavr public (holdg hands, kissg or dancg wh someone of the same sex) was still illegal, so police harassment of gay bars ntued and many bars still operated whout liquor licens— part bee they were owned by the Rights Before StonewallThe first documented U. Gay rights anizatn, The Society for Human Rights (SHR), was found 1924 by Henry Gerber, a German immigrant. Police raids forced them to disband 1925, but not before they had published several issu of their newsletter, “Friendship and Freedom, ” the untry’s first gay-tert newsletter.
In 1966, three years before Stonewall, members of The Mattache Society, an anizatn dited to gay rights, staged a “sip-” where they openly clared their sexualy at taverns, darg staff to turn them away and sug tablishments who did.
When The Commissn on Human Rights led that gay dividuals had the right to be served bars, police raids were temporarily Stonewall Inn The crime syndite saw prof terg to shunned gay clientele, and by the mid-1960s, the Genove crime fay ntrolled most Greenwich Village gay bars. In 1966, they purchased Stonewall Inn (a “straight” bar and rtrant), cheaply renovated , and reopened the next year as a gay bar. It weled drag queens, who received a bter receptn at other gay bars and clubs.
THE STONEWALL RTS DIDN’T START THE GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
It was a nightly home for many naways and homels gay youths, who panhandled or shoplifted to afford the entry fee. And was one of the few—if not the only—gay bar left that allowed were still a fact of life, but ually rpt ps would tip off Mafia-n bars before they occurred, allowg owners to stash the alhol (sold whout a liquor license) and hi other illegal activi.
Stonewall's LegacyThough the Stonewall uprisg didn’t start the gay rights movement, was a galvanizg force for LGBT polil activism, leadg to numero gay rights anizatns, cludg the Gay Liberatn Front, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD (formerly Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn), and PFLAG (formerly Parents, Fai and Friends of Lbians and Gays) the one-year anniversary of the rts on June 28, 1970, thoands of people marched the streets of Manhattan om the Stonewall Inn to Central Park what was then lled “Christopher Street Liberatn Day, ” Ameri’s first gay pri para.