Summary: The Stonewall Riots
On June 26th, 2015, cheers erupted across America -- big businesses, people and even the White House shamelessly coated itself in rainbow colors to show their support of something years in the making: the legalization of same sex marriage. After years of protests, riots, campaigns, parades, mainstream activism, celebrity, political and even big business support, same sex marriage was legalized by the US Supreme Court in all fifty states on June 26th, 2015. Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court case that made the ruling possible, garnered mixed reactions across America: some excited for the dawn of a more accepting America while others were quick to search for loopholes around the ruling. Despite the reactions, the legalization of same-sex
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The name does not instantaneously trigger emotions or a respectful silence and it is not something most know to associate with gay rights despite it being critical in the origin of the gay rights movement. On June 28th, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a known New York gay bar, was raided by police (Wright) which, considering the time period, was not uncommon. The act was routine: “Police would arrest the bartenders for liquor violations, inspect the identification cards of patrons, and take those not wearing at least three articles of gender-appropriate clothing into custody.” (Stock) but in an iconic twist of events, several customers stood defiantly against police. However, it was not until an act of police brutality against a lesbian patron that the ongoing riots erupted and are now known as the Stonewall Riots. Chants of “gay power!” filled the air as LGBT people flooded Sheridan Square and signified the official start of the gay rights movement which, until the Stonewall Riots, was short lived and disunited; the Village Voice described the scene as “a kind of liberation, as the gay brigade emerged from bars, back rooms, and bedrooms of the Village and became street people.” (Village Voice). The riots did not even make front cover of that issue of the Village Voice, but that did not stop it from sparking an entire
The name does not instantaneously trigger emotions or a respectful silence and it is not something most know to associate with gay rights despite it being critical in the origin of the gay rights movement. On June 28th, 1969, the Stonewall Inn, a known New York gay bar, was raided by police (Wright) which, considering the time period, was not uncommon. The act was routine: “Police would arrest the bartenders for liquor violations, inspect the identification cards of patrons, and take those not wearing at least three articles of gender-appropriate clothing into custody.” (Stock) but in an iconic twist of events, several customers stood defiantly against police. However, it was not until an act of police brutality against a lesbian patron that the ongoing riots erupted and are now known as the Stonewall Riots. Chants of “gay power!” filled the air as LGBT people flooded Sheridan Square and signified the official start of the gay rights movement which, until the Stonewall Riots, was short lived and disunited; the Village Voice described the scene as “a kind of liberation, as the gay brigade emerged from bars, back rooms, and bedrooms of the Village and became street people.” (Village Voice). The riots did not even make front cover of that issue of the Village Voice, but that did not stop it from sparking an entire