COVE

In 1969 there was a famous event that is very important in the history of the rise of gay rights, called the Stonewall Riots, or also called the Stonewall uprisings. Stonewall Inn was a gay club located in Greenwich Village in New York City. New York City police had raided the club, roughly hauling employees and patrons out of the bar, this led to riots among the neighborhood residents and bar patrons that were affected. This led to six days of protests and very violent encounters with law enforcement. 

In the 1960s people were still not kind to LGBT americans, solicitation of same-sex relations was illegal in New York City. Naturally, LGBT people had taken refuge in certain places that were made especially for them to be able to express themselves freely. Still, the New York State Liquor Authority penalized and shut down establishments that served alcohol to known or suspected LGBT individuals. Although there were activists of The Mattachine Society made it possible for LGBT individuals to be served alcohol by daring staff of bars to turn them away and sue establishments that did, but engaging in gay behavior publically was still illegal. Police made sure to harass these gay bars because of it. Stonewall Inn was actually owned by the Genovese crime family, who saw profit in gay customers who were looking for refuge, they owned most gay bars in Greenwich Village. The Genovese family bribed New York’s Sixth Police Precinct to ignore the activities occurring within the club. The place was not much of a safe house for gay patrons, the establishment lacked many things that a good bar usually acquired, and the crime family actually blackmailed wealthier customers who didn’t want their sexuality exposed. But gay patrons did not have much else to choose from, and Stonewall Inn was one of the most popular gay bars that served as a home for some people and one of the only gay bars that allowed dancing. 

The police had not been tipped off that day to ignore the establishment, so they raided the place and arrested 13 people. The people became fed up with how the police would constantly manhandle and discriminate against them, so they formed a riot outside the bar, which included hundreds of people. People threw objects at the police, and it got so violent that they tried to create a barricade within the bar and the crowd tried to set it on fire. The riot was eventually dispersed for the day but it later continued with many more protests for five more days. This led to a surge of LGBT political activism and many more formations of gay rights organizations. 

History.com Editors. “Gay Rights.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 28 June 2017, https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/history-of-gay-rights.