Cause And Effect Of The Stonewall Rebellion Of 1969

The Stonewall Rebellion of 1969 was a series of riots counteracting a violent police raid

at Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City, New York. Resulting from the years of

mistreatment towards members of the LGBT community, the uprising was a work in progress

that would heavily effect the way many viewed the community. The rebellion demonstrated the

immense conflict between the LGBT community and the rest of society, setting the stage for

future political and social compromises. The Stonewall Rebellion of 1969 had a significant effect

on the United States socially, politically and religiously and was a catalyst for the future of the

United States’ Gay Rights Movement.

Mistreatment of the 20th Century

When the LGBT community began

to become more prominent and obvious in the early
1800s, many were opposed of the idea of homosexuality, and laws that restricted the rights of
gays and lesbians began to emerge. Sodomy laws, placed prior to the end of the 19th century,
were focused on the general public who would commit non-traditional and/or violent sexual acts
onto a person or animal. However, the end of the 19th century brought new sodomy laws, written
with homosexuals in mind. These laws prohibited sexual acts in public as well as in the private 1
home of a couple. Police officials were able to use these laws as a way to harass and provoke the
emerging LGBT community. 2
Carter, David. “What made Stonewall different.” The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, vol. 16, no. 4, 1 2009, p. 11+. Diversity Studies Collection.
Grabianowski, Ed. “How the Stonewall Riots Worked.” How Stuff Works. 2
As the 20th century progressed, the gay and lesbian community began to grow, creating
conflict between the traditional ways of life and the new and urbanized culture. With the end of
the 19th century agriculture based economy and infrastructure, the United States’ population
ratio of rural to urban almost flipped as the amount of people living in urbanized cities sky-
rocketed. As cities’ populations rose, the LGBT community did as well. By the mid 20th 3
century, the United States’ populous were well aware of the homosexual. As laws against the
LGBT community began to emerge, the political, economic and social discrimination increased.
As being a part of the LGBT was considered a very negative trait–even considered a
mental disorder by professionals in medicine –the living conditions for those who were out of 4
the closet were horrendous; many would lose their jobs, were forced to live in awful, low-class 5
living conditions, and were called profane names. Many were forced to look towards fellow 6
LGBT members in Manhattan as they were unable to fend for themselves. This brought rise to
gay groups and bars in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, as this seemed to be the hub for
homosexual activity.
Police raids at gay bars were common and expected by the LGBT community. These
raids were in search of any illicit behavior that would give police officials reason to detain and
arrest gay and lesbian individuals. Police raids included “crack down[s] on prostitution and other
organized-crime activities,” but were also commonly known for the harassment of customers and
Newton, David E. Gay and Lesbian Rights, Santa Barbara, California, ABC-CLIO, 2009, Contemporary 3 World Issues.
Bausum, Ann. Stonewall Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights. New York, New York, Penguin 4 Group, 2015.
Grabianowski, Ed. “How the Stonewall Riots Worked.” How Stuff Works. 5
Carter, David. Stonewall. New York, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2004. 6
arrests of crossdressers. Everyone knew the risks and continued to frequent such establishments 7
as they were the only place of solace for the community.
Life of the homosexual in mid 20th century America was rough. Much of the LGBT
community was made up of teenagers. “Parents in the old days actually threw their children out
with the clothes they were wearing when they found out they were gay.” Rejected as outcasts in 8
a society of prejudice and discrimination against minority groups, suicide and homeless rates ran
high in the LGBT community as many felt they had nowhere else to turn. The gay community 9
seemed to be a lost cause in their fight for equality.
The Stonewall Inn and Mafia Corruption
When the Stonewall Inn Restaurant closed after a fire in the mid 1960s, a mafia leader by
the name Fat Tony purchased, renovated and turned the space into a gay bar. The new 10
Stonewall Inn gay bar, located at 53 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village in Lower
Manhattan, New York City, New York , would become a famous safe-haven for LGBT 11
teenagers. However–unprovided by the government–protection of these patrons came at a cost.
Hevesi, Dennis. “Seymour Pine Dies at 91; Led Raid on Stonewall Inn.” The New York Times, 7 Sept. 7 2010.
Tree Sequoia, “Stonewall: The Story of Resistance | Chosen Family | Part 7.” Youtube, uploaded by 8 Tyler Oakley, 28 June 2017,
Bausum, Ann. Stonewall Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights. New York, New York, Penguin 9 Group, 2015.
Carter, David. Stonewall. New York, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2004. 10
“Stonewall Rebellion Ignites Modern Lesbian and Gay Rights Movement.” The 20th Century, edited by 11 Robert F. Gorman, vol. 4, Pasadena, California, Salem Press, pp. 3260-62. Great Events from History.
Since Fat Tony purchased the space with the intent of using it for mafia related crimes, patrons
were well aware of the risks they faced.
Purchased in 1967, the Stonewall Inn was one of the first private gay bars in Greenwich
Village. Being a private bar, the Stonewall Inn was a club that was unaffected by the 1960s
crackdown of bars across the country. The State Liquor Authority (SLA) was an important
organization that prohibited the selling of liquor to homosexual patrons and, if caught, would
result in the revoking of liquor licenses to bar owners. However, when the Stonewall was
purchased, the SLA claimed to not be discriminatory and granted the selling of liquor to
homosexual patrons. In David Carter’s book Stonewall, he describes the repeal on the banning 12
of liquor through this quote:
Subsequent events and explanations would eventually clarify that the SLA’s new line
was that homosexuals would be in bars and be served liquor as long as they were not
“disorderly,” by which that post-Sip-in (small sit ins that protested the prohibition of
serving alcohol to gay people) SLA meant that homosexuals who behaved largely as
heterosexuals were allowed to–kissing, touching each other intimately, or dancing in an
overtly sexual manner–were a disorder presence and hence could endanger a bar’s
license.
Although the Stonewall Inn was now a place of business, the intentional police raids were
still common as speculation over non-gay related crimes had risen in the 60s– many raids were
still prejudice against the gay community. Despite the many flaws the bar possessed, it was still
Carter, David. Stonewall. New York, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2004. 12
considered a second home to many of the neglected and rejected LGBT members left with
nothing.

The Stonewall Uprising

In the early morning of June 28th, 1969, the unthinkable finally occurred in the open

community of Greenwich, Manhattan. Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine of Manhattan's First

Division of Public Morals had set two male and two female officers undercover in the bar on 13

the night of Friday, June 27th under suspicions of illegal dispensing of liquor. As Pine’s plan to 14

gather intel continued through the night and his two male officers returned, he anxiously awaited

the return of the female officers. However, as time passed and Pine’s worry for the two officers

began to grow, Pine could wait no longer and decided to directly raid the bar. At about 1:20 15

a.m., in the early morning of June 28th, 1969, the police raid on the Stonewall Inn had begun.

Once inside, the officers phoned in the incident to their precinct and requested backup. 16

As word of the raid spread within the club, many panicked customers sought their friends and an

exit. Many feared losing their jobs, being outed, arrested, and paramount to that–their safety.

As the officers continued their arrests, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn were sneering and

using profane language towards the officers, unsettled by the treatment towards their

fellow
brothers and sisters (see Appendix A). About 150 patrons were lined up, being searched and
Grabianowski, Ed. “How the Stonewall Riots Worked.” How Stuff Works. 13
“Stonewall Rebellion Ignites Modern Lesbian and Gay Rights Movement.” The 20th Century, edited by 14 Robert F. Gorman, vol. 4, Pasadena, California, Salem Press, pp. 3260-62. Great Events from History.
Carter, David. Stonewall. New York, New York, St. Martin’s Press, 2004. 15
Bausum, Ann. Stonewall Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights. New York, New York, Penguin 16 Group, 2015.
potentially arrested. Shortly after 3 a.m., when they were escorting out the last customer, she 17
began struggling and putting up a fight, calling out to the rest of the patrons, “Why don’t you
guys do something?” This was a wake–up call to the bystanders witnessing the event unfold in 18
front of them. They began to throw shot glasses (activist Marsha P. Johnson’s shot glass heard
round the world ), throwing coins and bottles and loosened cobblestone. Bricks, beer cans and 19 20
anything that the patrons could get ahold of became a weapon against the police officers
threatening their solace. The officers were forced to retreat back into the club, seeking refuge
from the major conflict erupting outside. “Several people ripped out a parking meter and used it
as a battering ram; others tried to set fire to the club.” 21
Arrest charges from that morning include harassment, assault, and criminal mischief.

As 22

the riots ensued after these arrests and the Tactical Police Force (TPF) of Manhattan arrived,

hundreds of LGBT members in Greenwich Village continued to flood the streets, and resisted all

attempts made by the police to calm the riots. Drag queens would line up along the street,

shoulder to shoulder chanting things such as, “We are the Village Queens. We always wear blue

jeans. We wear our hair in curls. Because we think we’re girls.” 23

“The Stonewall Riots Explained.” Youtube, uploaded by Hip Hughes, 2 July 2015. 17

Faderman, Lillian. The Gay Revolution; The Story of the Struggle. New York, New York, Simon & 18 Schuster, 2015.

“Laverne Cox, Candis Cayne & More on Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera | Trailblazer Honors | 19 Logo.” Youtube, uploaded by Logo, 7 July 2016.

Grabianowski, Ed. “How the Stonewall Riots Worked.” How Stuff Works. 20

Hevesi, Dennis. “Seymour Pine Dies at 91; Led Raid on Stonewall Inn.” The New York Times, 7 Sept. 21 2010.

Arrest Reports From the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. 28 June 1969. The New York Times. 22

Bausum, Ann. Stonewall Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights. New York, New York, Penguin 23 Group,

2015.