Straight people express their sexual orientation in public constantly - free from shame. We’re remembering how we refused to be ashamed. When we celebrate Pride today, we’re commemorating both Stonewall and that first, illegal march. It wasn’t a parade, it was a take-back-the-streets protest. The very first Gay Pride March took place the June after, when a coalition of activists came together to seize Fifth Avenue and march up from the Village to Central Park. Stonewall was the spark that lit a bonfire. The Stonewall Riots symbolize the beginning of the modern gay or queer rights movement. The police response was poorly organized and there weren’t enough officers or paddy wagons initially to transport everyone to jail.Ī few less-than-entirely-sober drag queens got pissed off at the thought of spending the night in jail again. On the night the riots started, nobody at the Stonewall knew to stop dancing and duck out early.
They would also conduct semi-regular raids to arrest people on public indecency charges - to keep up the appearance of fighting “vice.” Sometimes, bar patrons would be tipped off before a raid, but not always. In an informal but rigid arrangement, the police would collect regular bribes from the owners in return for not shutting the place down.
The Stonewall, like most gay bars in New York City at the time, was owned and operated by an organized crime syndicate, with the implicit cooperation of the police department. So could just drinking at a bar known for such things. Back in those days, dancing at a bar with a member of the same sex could get you thrown in jail. The Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan is the site of three nights of rioting that kicked off on June 28, 1969.
Pride commemorates the Stonewall riots of June, 1969.
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