Stonewall Riots Research Paper

Introduction
The stonewall riots of 1969 happened consecutively for 3 days, it all started on June 27th in Greenwich Village, New York at the Stonewall Inn. During the 1960’s it was common for the police to raid gay bars, and when this would happen the gays and lesbians would try to sneak out the back door. The police would arrest the patrons and drag them off to jail, their names were written down and published in the newspaper by the next day and as a result they would be fired from their jobs. “The 1960s was a time of revolution. The Civil Rights Movement was in full swing and people took to the streets to protest the war in Vietnam. It was only a matter of time before gays and lesbians stood up for their rights as well.”(A history of Gay and Lesbian Pride) June is now the month known as Gay Pride month, a time when all gays and
Police demanded identification papers from costumers, they escorted them outside on to the sidewalks were they were pushed off and others were put into a paddy-wagon. That’s when some of the lesbians and gays started to fight back. They Chanted “Gay Power” all while throwing bottles and rocks at the police. “Riot veteran and gay rights activist Craig Rodwell says: "A number of incidents were happening simultaneously. There was no one thing that happened or one person, there was just... a flash of group, of mass anger.”(The stonewall riots-1969) Crowds soon began to grow outside the Stonewall Inn. Every time the police would have the crowd spilt up it would just start again right behind them and again they would start to chant. Thirteen arrest had been made on the first night of the riot many of the protesters were singled out and beaten and then later were arrested. With about two thousand protesters and only about four hundred police officers, the tactical patrol force was called in to disperse the riots but with a failed attempt the riot continued