Gay Rights Movement In The 1960s And 1970
“You can cure yourself, in a day, a minute, a second, with three words, with six. I’m-not-sick—three words. Three words more: I-love-myself.” (Stonewall,79) This was said by Leo Skit, a poet and activist while giving advice to his closeted friend in 1970. The late 1960s and 1970s were huge for the LGBTQ movement. Everything from parades to protests happened. This has helped shape and form the rainbow community that we know today. The LGBTQ+ movement continuously fights for basic human rights in the face of discrimination. In 1969, discrimination attacked LGBT individuals. The gays were so highly discriminated that the mafia was running most of the gay bars and meet up places in the New York City Area. Also, there was a law against cross dressing.
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You had to wear a certain amount of gender conforming clothing to be legal. (Stonewall: 11, 14) The social views were highly against LGBTQ people as well. It was rare to see someone for gay rights. Even gay people were against themselves. The medical community had homosexuality under the list of mental illnesses, making most homosexual people think they were sick and didn’t want to be this way.(Stonewall, 4-5) If gays were okay with their identity, most couldn’t come out anyway. They had to keep their identities hidden to keep jobs and income. (Stonewall, 4) Plus, they weren’t very welcome at bars that weren’t run by the mafia. Some bars were posting “If You’re Gay, Go Away” signs in their windows. However, June 28th, 1969 was an important date in the LGBTQ community. This is the date that started the entire LGBTQ movement. It all starts at Stonewall Inn in New York City. Stonewall Inn wasn’t a hotel like the name infers, it is instead a gay bar. One of the many run by the mafia during this time period. This one was more famous because it had a jukebox, something most bars lacked. This caused the Friday night to make the dance floors filled, especially by about 1:20 A.M. when the riots began. Most people by now were drunk or had been doing drugs for hours. Knocks on the door and a call saying they was another raid made everyone panic. Lights flashed to warn those who hadn’t heard the warning from the police officer. The entire dance floor turned into panic city. Questions filled the customer’s heads. Why was there another raid? Am I going to be arrested? (Stonewall, 35) Because of this, Police took the place rather quickly. They placed employees and crossdressers in the back room to await being arrested. (Stonewall, 38) Others began to get kicked out and gathered outside the venue. Bystanders began to join the crowd, curious as to what was happening at the bar. A butch lesbian began to be taken to the truck to be arrested, fighting the police who had grabbed her. Some say that she looked at the crowd and yelled “Why don’t you guys do something?!” That started the riot. (Stonewall, 43) Consequently, the crowd erupted. They threw whatever they could at the police. Pennies, bottles, cans, parking meters, trash cans, and more. (Stonewall, 33-34) There were a lot of struggle for the community over the past few years and it all exploded. “I wanted to kill those cops for the anger I had in me,” said Doric Wilson, a participant during the riots. Ronnie Di Brienza said that “There is a limit, and Friday night was it.” Everyone was done with the mistreatment and all of their bars being shut down. (Stonewall, 40, 49) “We didn’t have the manpower and the manpower for the other side was coming like it was a real war. And that’s what it was, it was a war,” said Inspector Pine about the rioters and the merciless crowd on the other side of the door. The crowds were so insane that the police, trained to know how to work with riots, had to retreat into the stonewall. The “Village Voice” newspaper had sent a reporter to the scene. The reporter had to follow them into the Inn. (Stonewall, 45-48) Soon, the crowd had grown furious at the police. The rioters began to use a parking meter as a battering ram against the double-thick door separating the two huge groups. Rioters began to throw projectiles through the broken door. One of the cops got hit under the eye and ended up getting a bloody eye. While the door was open, Inspector Pine grabs someone by the waist and pulls them into an establishment. He had captured Dave Van Ronk, whom had joined the raid after coming to investigate the commotion. The police slapped, punched, and kicked him before handcuffing him to the radiator by the doorway, now almost unconscious. The door is closed back up and furniture is put in place to block the door. Meanwhile, the rioters had begun to use fire as a weapon. Luckily, the police found fire extinguishers and water to keep the fire under control. (Stonewall, 50-53) However, soon the reinforcements came and the crowd teased the Tactical Patrol Force for hours before finally dispersing and going home. The months following Stonewall were interesting. The Homophile Youth Movement came out saying what they wanted from the LGBT community. They wanted gay businessmen to step forward and open Gay Bars that will run legally, homosexuals to ban places with unhealthy atmospheres, and for homosexuals and concerned heterosexuals to demand a thorough investigation of what happened at Stonewall. (HYMN) Also, there were other protests in the following months. The day after Stonewall, there was protests in Christopher Street. Bottles were once again thrown, fires were used, tear gas was used, cars were rocked, garbage cans lids were used as Frisbees against the police. (Stonewall, 69) It was chaos. On July 2nd, the “Village Voice” newspaper released an article on the riots using hurtful slang towards the homosexuals. There was a riot on the newspaper and some wanted to burn the newspaper’s offices. Finally, on July 27th, one month after the stonewall riots, there were protests in Washing Square Park with speeches about gay rights. (Stonewall, 74) 1970 was another huge year for the LGBTQ community.
1970 brought many things to the community, such as coming out to the public, homosexuality was removed from the list of mental disorders, there was less discrimination and harassment and greater visibility for the entire community. (uky.edu) On June 28th, 1970, one year after Stonewall, there was the first ever pride parade on Christopher Street. LGBTQ members would chant “I am out!” while they walked and Allies would chant “We support gay rights!” By the end of the walk, thousands had joined the march and the chanting. Boston, Chicago, Los Angles, and San Francisco also had gay pride celebrations in 1970, but New York City will remain the first. (Stonewall …show more content…
76-78) In 1970, lesbian feminism began to rise. The group had a goal to create lesbian only spaces and persuade the ideas of gay liberation, mainstream feminism, and heterosexuality. They did achieve self-sufficient lesbian communities, crisis lines and community centers, and self-defense schools and shelters for battered women. (uky.edu) We still have a lot of these ideas in today’s society and no one knew that they came from lesbian feminism. The 1980s began the downfall of the gays. The AIDS epidemic took over America by surprise. Thousands of gay men got infected before the spring of 1981. Most of the people infected with AIDS were gay males. (Stonewall, 83, 85) This did cause a lot of questions for the gay community and a lot of despair. The government, however, failed to acknowledge the urgency of the health crisis preying upon the gay men. (Stonewall, 85) LGBTQ today is still a struggle. Gay men had a ban placed on them giving blood in 1985 because of the aids epidemic. In May 2015, the ban was slightly lifted. Gay men would have to wait one year after having sex to donate any blood. (Huffington Post)
Mental illnesses are huge in the LGBTQ community.
According to a survey taken by Dr. Brian S. Mustanski, 1/3 of 246 LGBTQ people aged 16-20 had some sort of mental disorder. 15% had major depression and 9% had PTSD. Lifetime suicide attempts and PTSD are higher with most LGBT individuals. (Power library)
Hates crimes are huge for the LGBT community as a whole. We are still separated after all these years. Employers can fire workers based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Even though this has gotten better in a lot of states, it still isn’t a federal law protecting discrimination. There are laws in 21 states and D.C. protecting LGBT individuals in the workplace. (Huffington Post) 42% of transgender individuals won’t fully transition because they don’t want to lose their jobs. LGBT are forced into closets to keep jobs and make a living in the world. (stonewall.org)
You might think this is just in the adult workplace, but no. There is a lot of discrimination in schools as well. 55% of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals have experienced direct bullying from someone. 1/3 of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals have been isolated or ignored. 41% of LGBT have wanted to take their own lives or self-harm because of bullying. 59% of transgender youth have hurt themselves, compared to the regular 8.9% (stonewall.org) Even though we are supposed to be all seen as equals, there is still a lot of separation between the two
communities.
No one seems to realize the walls separating us until they sit down and look at all the hate crimes and the discrimination. LGBT people are being hurt and turning to painful methods of coping to deal with the hate. The suicide rates are high in the LGBT community and the average life span of a transgender person is quite low. Only the heterosexuals can fix the horrible things going on in the community. The community can’t do it alone.
On the other side of the situation, there are some good things that have happened in the last decade to the community. In 2015, a supreme court case legalized gay marriage in all 50 states.(polis.house.gov) When gay marriage was legalized, a family came out and told their story. The family married the day after with the help of their daughter. It brought the family closer together and the other mother is officially going to adopt the daughter. (Seventeen)
In conclusion, the LGBTQ community is still fighting for basic human rights while being discriminated. “We’ll be gay until everyone has forgotten that it’s an issue. Then we’ll be complete,” said Carl Wittman shortly before the Stonewall Riots. (Stonewall, 97) Years later, it is still an issue to a lot of people. It is still better than back in 1969 when the Stonewall Riots occurred, but the dream for a lot of people back then still haven’t achieved the dream. The community now has the marriage in all 50 states and less discrimination than back then, but it’s still there. Soon, maybe the dream of it being a forgotten issue will be real.
You had to wear a certain amount of gender conforming clothing to be legal. (Stonewall: 11, 14) The social views were highly against LGBTQ people as well. It was rare to see someone for gay rights. Even gay people were against themselves. The medical community had homosexuality under the list of mental illnesses, making most homosexual people think they were sick and didn’t want to be this way.(Stonewall, 4-5) If gays were okay with their identity, most couldn’t come out anyway. They had to keep their identities hidden to keep jobs and income. (Stonewall, 4) Plus, they weren’t very welcome at bars that weren’t run by the mafia. Some bars were posting “If You’re Gay, Go Away” signs in their windows. However, June 28th, 1969 was an important date in the LGBTQ community. This is the date that started the entire LGBTQ movement. It all starts at Stonewall Inn in New York City. Stonewall Inn wasn’t a hotel like the name infers, it is instead a gay bar. One of the many run by the mafia during this time period. This one was more famous because it had a jukebox, something most bars lacked. This caused the Friday night to make the dance floors filled, especially by about 1:20 A.M. when the riots began. Most people by now were drunk or had been doing drugs for hours. Knocks on the door and a call saying they was another raid made everyone panic. Lights flashed to warn those who hadn’t heard the warning from the police officer. The entire dance floor turned into panic city. Questions filled the customer’s heads. Why was there another raid? Am I going to be arrested? (Stonewall, 35) Because of this, Police took the place rather quickly. They placed employees and crossdressers in the back room to await being arrested. (Stonewall, 38) Others began to get kicked out and gathered outside the venue. Bystanders began to join the crowd, curious as to what was happening at the bar. A butch lesbian began to be taken to the truck to be arrested, fighting the police who had grabbed her. Some say that she looked at the crowd and yelled “Why don’t you guys do something?!” That started the riot. (Stonewall, 43) Consequently, the crowd erupted. They threw whatever they could at the police. Pennies, bottles, cans, parking meters, trash cans, and more. (Stonewall, 33-34) There were a lot of struggle for the community over the past few years and it all exploded. “I wanted to kill those cops for the anger I had in me,” said Doric Wilson, a participant during the riots. Ronnie Di Brienza said that “There is a limit, and Friday night was it.” Everyone was done with the mistreatment and all of their bars being shut down. (Stonewall, 40, 49) “We didn’t have the manpower and the manpower for the other side was coming like it was a real war. And that’s what it was, it was a war,” said Inspector Pine about the rioters and the merciless crowd on the other side of the door. The crowds were so insane that the police, trained to know how to work with riots, had to retreat into the stonewall. The “Village Voice” newspaper had sent a reporter to the scene. The reporter had to follow them into the Inn. (Stonewall, 45-48) Soon, the crowd had grown furious at the police. The rioters began to use a parking meter as a battering ram against the double-thick door separating the two huge groups. Rioters began to throw projectiles through the broken door. One of the cops got hit under the eye and ended up getting a bloody eye. While the door was open, Inspector Pine grabs someone by the waist and pulls them into an establishment. He had captured Dave Van Ronk, whom had joined the raid after coming to investigate the commotion. The police slapped, punched, and kicked him before handcuffing him to the radiator by the doorway, now almost unconscious. The door is closed back up and furniture is put in place to block the door. Meanwhile, the rioters had begun to use fire as a weapon. Luckily, the police found fire extinguishers and water to keep the fire under control. (Stonewall, 50-53) However, soon the reinforcements came and the crowd teased the Tactical Patrol Force for hours before finally dispersing and going home. The months following Stonewall were interesting. The Homophile Youth Movement came out saying what they wanted from the LGBT community. They wanted gay businessmen to step forward and open Gay Bars that will run legally, homosexuals to ban places with unhealthy atmospheres, and for homosexuals and concerned heterosexuals to demand a thorough investigation of what happened at Stonewall. (HYMN) Also, there were other protests in the following months. The day after Stonewall, there was protests in Christopher Street. Bottles were once again thrown, fires were used, tear gas was used, cars were rocked, garbage cans lids were used as Frisbees against the police. (Stonewall, 69) It was chaos. On July 2nd, the “Village Voice” newspaper released an article on the riots using hurtful slang towards the homosexuals. There was a riot on the newspaper and some wanted to burn the newspaper’s offices. Finally, on July 27th, one month after the stonewall riots, there were protests in Washing Square Park with speeches about gay rights. (Stonewall, 74) 1970 was another huge year for the LGBTQ community.
1970 brought many things to the community, such as coming out to the public, homosexuality was removed from the list of mental disorders, there was less discrimination and harassment and greater visibility for the entire community. (uky.edu) On June 28th, 1970, one year after Stonewall, there was the first ever pride parade on Christopher Street. LGBTQ members would chant “I am out!” while they walked and Allies would chant “We support gay rights!” By the end of the walk, thousands had joined the march and the chanting. Boston, Chicago, Los Angles, and San Francisco also had gay pride celebrations in 1970, but New York City will remain the first. (Stonewall …show more content…
76-78) In 1970, lesbian feminism began to rise. The group had a goal to create lesbian only spaces and persuade the ideas of gay liberation, mainstream feminism, and heterosexuality. They did achieve self-sufficient lesbian communities, crisis lines and community centers, and self-defense schools and shelters for battered women. (uky.edu) We still have a lot of these ideas in today’s society and no one knew that they came from lesbian feminism. The 1980s began the downfall of the gays. The AIDS epidemic took over America by surprise. Thousands of gay men got infected before the spring of 1981. Most of the people infected with AIDS were gay males. (Stonewall, 83, 85) This did cause a lot of questions for the gay community and a lot of despair. The government, however, failed to acknowledge the urgency of the health crisis preying upon the gay men. (Stonewall, 85) LGBTQ today is still a struggle. Gay men had a ban placed on them giving blood in 1985 because of the aids epidemic. In May 2015, the ban was slightly lifted. Gay men would have to wait one year after having sex to donate any blood. (Huffington Post)
Mental illnesses are huge in the LGBTQ community.
According to a survey taken by Dr. Brian S. Mustanski, 1/3 of 246 LGBTQ people aged 16-20 had some sort of mental disorder. 15% had major depression and 9% had PTSD. Lifetime suicide attempts and PTSD are higher with most LGBT individuals. (Power library)
Hates crimes are huge for the LGBT community as a whole. We are still separated after all these years. Employers can fire workers based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Even though this has gotten better in a lot of states, it still isn’t a federal law protecting discrimination. There are laws in 21 states and D.C. protecting LGBT individuals in the workplace. (Huffington Post) 42% of transgender individuals won’t fully transition because they don’t want to lose their jobs. LGBT are forced into closets to keep jobs and make a living in the world. (stonewall.org)
You might think this is just in the adult workplace, but no. There is a lot of discrimination in schools as well. 55% of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals have experienced direct bullying from someone. 1/3 of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals have been isolated or ignored. 41% of LGBT have wanted to take their own lives or self-harm because of bullying. 59% of transgender youth have hurt themselves, compared to the regular 8.9% (stonewall.org) Even though we are supposed to be all seen as equals, there is still a lot of separation between the two
communities.
No one seems to realize the walls separating us until they sit down and look at all the hate crimes and the discrimination. LGBT people are being hurt and turning to painful methods of coping to deal with the hate. The suicide rates are high in the LGBT community and the average life span of a transgender person is quite low. Only the heterosexuals can fix the horrible things going on in the community. The community can’t do it alone.
On the other side of the situation, there are some good things that have happened in the last decade to the community. In 2015, a supreme court case legalized gay marriage in all 50 states.(polis.house.gov) When gay marriage was legalized, a family came out and told their story. The family married the day after with the help of their daughter. It brought the family closer together and the other mother is officially going to adopt the daughter. (Seventeen)
In conclusion, the LGBTQ community is still fighting for basic human rights while being discriminated. “We’ll be gay until everyone has forgotten that it’s an issue. Then we’ll be complete,” said Carl Wittman shortly before the Stonewall Riots. (Stonewall, 97) Years later, it is still an issue to a lot of people. It is still better than back in 1969 when the Stonewall Riots occurred, but the dream for a lot of people back then still haven’t achieved the dream. The community now has the marriage in all 50 states and less discrimination than back then, but it’s still there. Soon, maybe the dream of it being a forgotten issue will be real.