Stonewall Uprising Research Paper

The rights that those in the LGBTQ+ community have in modern times are largely attributed to the Stonewall Uprising, six days of riots that took place in June 1969. A large portion of the success that came with the riots is directly linked to the period that it happened in, the Civil Rights Era. The full effect of the uprising would have been significantly less without the backing of the Civil Rights Era. The Civil Rights Era was a period where multiple minorities took a stand against the oppression they faced; many of the more commonly talked about movements of the time were the movements for women’s rights and African American rights. Outside of those movements, there were many other movements that either never got big enough or were never …show more content…
For six days, these riots continued with the most violence on the first and last nights. (8) All different segments of the community worked to back the riots; drag queens, gays, lesbians, gender nonconforming people, and more worked together throughout the riots. At the time, the community was invisible; it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the Stonewall riots were the largest gathering of LGBTQ+ people for that year and the years before. That gathering and unrelenting push by the community created many changes that are still very prominent to this day. Pride parades are one example of Stonewall’s effects, as the first Pride Parade happened in June, the year after Stonewall. (9) Outside of the social changes, the community faced very few legal rights as there were no large changes to the laws that limited and prosecuted them until 1975. Even with the win under their belt of successfully taking down an anti-gender nonconforming law in Ohio, they still faced prosecution that only got worse as cops flooded queer-safe spaces. (11) This trend continued, as one win would result in higher tensions and more targeting of LGBTQ+ …show more content…
With the attention it gathered, it pushed people to start making their moves. Truthfully, though, it is impossible to say that the Civil Rights Era was truly immediately effective, as true legal change only happened long after Stonewall. Looking at the movement and the Era’s ties from the perspective of immediate change is limiting, though, as it did help to prevent the movement from wandering down harmful paths. If the community had gone down a much more violent path that only reflected the Stonewall Riots: property destruction, assault, etc., then the movement would have lost support and followers. Becoming a violent force isn’t a reasonable or effective way to get people to listen to you and your message. Even if people do listen, it is unlikely that they would be willing to support or become involved in a violent force. People inside the queer community that aren’t in support of violent protests would also be in opposition, and that would create a mess inside the community as well as outside the community. Becoming violent will only hurt the overall reputation of what you’re trying to preach and

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