Equality as a Movement

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Equality as a Movement It was Friday June 27, 1969. New York's crime syndicates are extorting large sums of protection money from gay bars. Any who can, or will, not pay are either "persuaded" or closed down after a visit from NYCPD's Public Morals Section, who enforce the Mafia's stranglehold on the city's gay bars. The detectives from the Public Morals Section have no reason to believe that tonight's raid on the gay Stonewall Inn will be anything but brief and businesslike. They arrest two bartenders, three drag queens, and a lesbian. The customers are allowed to leave one-by-one. A crowd of these customers quickly gathers outside the Stonewall Inn. Cries of defiance and cheers begin to rise from the swelling crowd (Lesbian). Soon, the crowd becomes an angry mob. Out numbered, with no place to go, the police seek cover inside the Stonewall, bolting the heavy wooden door against the crowd. Outside an uprooted parking meter is used as a makeshift battering ram, the door flies open. Someone pours lighter fluid through a broken window-- a match is thrown and the bar is in flames as police reinforcements begin to arrive. By Sunday morning the riot has burnt itself out. Intermittent small incidents take place over the next four nights but the pent-up anger and fury of the gay community has been exhausted and replaced by an emotion they have never experienced before, pride. Within a month the first Gay Liberation Front meeting is held in New York (Lesbian). Every year following the riot, now referred to simply as "Stonewall", Americans, gay and straight alike, come together in almost every city across the country. They come together in remembrance of Stonewall, prior struggles for equality, and just to ... ... middle of paper ... ...DA Legal Defense. 28 Oct. 2000. . Lavin, Cheryl. "Brutal Murder Made Him A Symbol." Chicago Tribune. 28 May 1993: A-14. Lesbian & Gay liberation over the years. Home Page. 26 June 1997. The Pride Trust. 12 Oct. 2000. . Irvine, Martha. "Gay Awareness Film Sparks Debate." 31 August 1999. Associated Press. 1 Sep. 1999. . News. U.S. Supreme Court. 20 May 1996. ACLU. 12 Oct 2000. . Partnership/Marriage. Home Page. 1996. GayLawNews. 12 Oct. 2000. . Scott's Home Page. 10 Dec. 1999. Matthew Shepard. 12 Oct. 2000. . Scott 13 O'Brien, Jay. "Henderson Pleads Guilty." University of Wyoming Branding Iron. 6 Apr. 1999: N-1. Whitaker, Tad. "McKinney Avoids Death." University of Wyoming Branding Iron. 4 Nov. 1999: N-7,8.

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