Stonewall Riots "Liberation for gay people is to define ourselves how and with whom we live, instead of measuring our relationships by straight values To be free territory, we must govern ourselves, set up our own institutions, defend ourselves, and use our own energies to improve our lives" (Wittman, 75). Carl Wittman's Refugees from Amerika: A Gay Manifesto, drew together many of the themes dealing with gay liberation. This quote demonstrates the goals of the gay and lesbian movement, a movement…
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On June 28th, 1969, a little after 3 a.m., police entered the Stonewall Inn, a gay club in located in Greenwich Village, one of New York City’s most well-known gay neighborhoods at the time. Located on 51 and 53 Christopher Street, the club was one of the most popular at the time. All members of the lgbt community would gather outside and wait in line where hopefully the hopper knew them, or they “looked gay enough” to enter the club. This method of entry was used in order to keep everyone in the…
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The New York Times article on the Stonewall Riots that occurred on June 28, 1969 gives a true description of what transpired that day. There were violent demonstrations by members of the gay community against a legally justified police raid that took place that early morning in Greenwich Village. The club among other violations was serving liquor without a license. In the 1950s and 1960s few businesses welcomed openly gay people, those that did were often bars. A significant number had already been…
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A few days before the Stonewall riots I was in the Stonewall Inn having some fun and having some laughs. The police here in New York were always raiding gay bars. Being gay or lesbian in the 1960s was difficult. The FBI puts you on a list by says you are a sexual pervert or you could be arrested for just holding your partners hand. On the night of the Riots I was in the Stonewall Inn. The stench of booze was thick in the air and the colored lights were flashing all around everyone. The bar was so…
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poorly and wanted to demonstrate that people should not be convicted of a mental illness based on their sexual orientation. The Stonewall Riots were officially the start of the Gay Liberation Movement, as police were seen walking to the Stonewall Inn and arresting many queer individuals, creating a hot mess as these individuals tried to defend themselves. The Stonewall Riots were seen as the catalyst for advocacy groups to stop creating a hostile environment for queer individuals to live in. Marches…
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The Stonewall Inn was a haven for the LGBTQ+ community in the 1960s but at the end of the decade, the Inn was raided by the police. The Stonewall Riots were the real beginning of the LGBTQ+ movement, a six-day-long uprising between LGBTQ+ protesters and the police. The Stonewall Riots are wrongfully titled as “riots” when in actuality it was an uprising. The police would constantly raid gay bars and gay people were finally forced to fight back (“LGBTQIA+ Studies: A Resource Guide - 1969: The Stonewall…
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out about the Stonewall Riots we immediately became entranced by their story. How could a topic, which had just started to be noticed by our society, have such an old and deep history? In today’s society, the LGBT community is beginning to become a much more important topic than before. But we had never stopped to question it. Why now, of all times? Why hadn’t LGBT rights been granted sooner, and how did the rights movement begin in the first place? When we found out that the Stonewall Uprising was…
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<http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/sexual-orientation-discrimination-rights-29541.html>. pro con. 26 september 2012. carter, john. freedom of choice. 2014. <http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/freedom-of-choice.html>. Davies, Diana. Stonewall Riots: The Beginning of the LGBT Movement. 2014. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights/The Leadership Conference Education Fund. 8 10 2014. <http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2009/06/449-stonewall.html>. miller, Elizabeth. dont ask dont…
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What sparked the Stonewall Riots? Prior to the Stonewall Riots (AKA the Stonewall Rebellion), it was illegal to be gay in public. Also, if someone was caught wearing fewer than three pieces of clothing that did not correlate with their birth gender, they could be sent to jail. Police often would raid gay bars. As a result, the Genovese family, who owned Stonewall Inn, paid off the New York Police to keep them out of the bar. However, police raids still occurred, but the owners of the bar were usually…
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had a difficult time being accepted throughout history. After the Stonewall riots in New York of 1969, the world slowly changed for LGBT+ people. There are many theories about how the first Stonewall riot was started. Some say it was a drag queen who knocked out a cop or a person whom threw a bottle towards the police. Sociologists might say that it was the effect of a chain reaction that caused the riots. How the Stonewall riots began is still a mystery to this day. In the 1920s, a homosexual subculture…
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