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The historic importance of Stonewall Riots
A essay about stonewall riots
What is the historical significance of the Stonewall riots
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In 1969, when it was a criminal offense to be gay and you couldn’t wear more than three articles of the opposite sex’s clothing, in New York, a police raid took place at a local gay bar. Before The Stonewall Riots, The Stonewall Inn was just a bar. It was owned by a man named Fat Tony, who converted Stonewall from a restaurant to a bar after a fire ruined the structure. Chuck Shaheen and Maddy Iannello were also key members in Stonewall Inns’ success. The Stonewall Riots erupted in the summer of 1969 when the LGBT community fought back for their rights. Lasting 6 days, the homosexual customers of the Stonewall Inn resisted the police attempt to remove them sparking violence and nationwide talk for months. The talk spread awareness which allowed
for more freedom for the LGBT community today. Back then, police went on regular raids in bars to see who was serving without a SLA or a State Liquor Authority. Though many bar owners weren’t allowed a SLA if they sold to gay customers. With this being said, many bars were shut down due to this, the raids and distributing alcohol illegally. The NYPD were on a routine raid in Greenwich Village when they cleared out the Stonewall Inn. This time was different, people fought back. When everyone was outside, taunting began from the customers. Soon, police struck back. Fire hoses were turned on people, windows were being smashed on buildings and people were throwing pennies and cobblestones. It even got so intense that tear gas was used. Throughout the six day riot, many iconic sayings were chanted in front of the bar. “Fag Power” and “We’re the pink panthers” being just two examples.
The stonewall riots happened june 28, 1969. It took place in the the Stonewall inn which is located in Greenwich Village which is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. “The stonewall inn is widely known as the birthplace of the modern LGBT rights movement and holds a truly iconic place in history” (gaycitynews). This means that the Stonewall riots was the event that started the gay rights movement. This is saying that The Stonewall is where the gay rights movement started for gay people to have same rights has anyone else. It all started with A number of incidents that were happening simultaneously. “There was no one thing that happened or one person, there was just… a flash of group, of mass anger”(Wright). This means that everything was happening at once and a bunch of people were angry. People in the crowd started shouting “Gay Power!” “And as the word started to spread through Greenwich Village and across the city, hundreds of gay men and lesbians, black, white, Hispanic, and predominantly working class, converged on the Christopher Street area around the Stonewall Inn to join the fray”(Wright). So many gay and lesbian people were chanting “gay power” . “The street outside the bar where the rebellion lasted for several day and night in june”(gaycitynews). so the stonewall riot lasted many days and
What were the causes of the prison riots in the 1990`s and how effective was the government response?
The Newark riots of 1967 were very extreme and terrible time in Newark, New Jersey, one of the worst in U.S. history. The riots were between African-Americans and white residents, police officers and the National Guard. The riots were not unexpected. The tension between the city grew tremendously during the 1960's, due to lack of employment for Blacks, inadequate housing, police brutality and political exclusion of blacks from government.
To sum up, I do not believe that past events and attitudes have a very
The media considers the1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City the spark of the modern gay rights movement. This occurred after the police raided the Stonewall bar, a popular gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. Allyn argues that the new energy and militancy generated by the riot played a crucial role in creating the gay liberation movement. Arguably, the Stonewall Riots have come to resemble the pivotal moment in gay rights history largely because it provided ways for the gay community to resist the social norms. In fact, the riots increased public awareness of gay rights activism (Allyn 157). Gay life after the Stonewall riots, however, was just as varied and complex as it was before. In the following era, ho...
April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you? You were sittin' home watchin' your TV, while I was paticipatin' in some anarchy. First spot we hit it was my liquor store. I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford. With red lights flashin' time to retire, and then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire. Next stop we hit it was the music shop, it only took one brick to make that window drop. Finally we got our own p.a. where do you think I got this guitar that you're hearing today?
“April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you!? You were sittin' home watchin' your TV, while I was paticipatin' in some anarchy,” these are the lyrics Sublime uses in their song ‘April 26, 1992’ to describe what happened during the Los Angeles Riots of 1992. “First spot we hit it was my liquor store. I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford. With red lights flashin' time to retire, And then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire,” people ,running through the streets, had no pity when demolishing small businesses and taking what ever they may want from them. The streets, neighborhoods, businesses were destroyed by angry protesters. Their reasons were clear, all they wanted was some justice. A video tape of four L.A.P.D police officers brutally beating a male (Rodney King) without any sympathy was made public, which started the bomb track. “Let it burn, wanna let it burn, wanna let it burn, wanna wanna let it burn,” says the song when describing the riots. Throughout these days there was an estimate of more than 50 killed, over 4 thousand injured, and 12,000 people arrested. The damage caused in the city was about one billion dollars, damage that is believed was never fully repaired. The riots and destruction that went on for about a week that showed the people’s rage and that they were not going to tolerate the injustices committed by the authorities.
...s. In both cases people in poverty didn’t have many opportunities coming their way. Although the riots were twenty seven years apart they both shared the same problems. People living in both communities did not have many resources available to them. In those twenty seven years, buildings in those areas were still rundown and many jobs weren’t available. Schools were still not on the same level as those in advantaged areas. What if African Americans were given better jobs and education? If they had received both the riots would not have started. They would have not felt oppressed and let anger just grow inside. Once the resentment started growing, it was only a matter of time before a riot broke out. In both riots you can see how the LAPD’s heavy hand was involved. African Americans were not receiving the same justice as the Caucasian residents of Los Angeles.
...protest movements throughout America and the world.” Among the gay community Stonewall has become the word for freedom, for fighting, for equality. It became a turning point in Gay history, so much so that most books on the subject refer to “pre-Stonewall” and “post-Stonewall” as the lines of demarcation. Of course the journey is still long and fight has not been won. At the turn of the century there were still 20 states that made homosexual sex illegal , any only a few states would recognize the love and companionship of gays through marriage or civil unions. The military policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is still active and prejudices continue to exist. But, as exemplified by any other civil rights movement, it is through the constant grind of activists and lay-people constantly protesting and educating, that change occurs, even if only one person at a time.
The Stonewall Riots marked the start of the gay rights movement, and inspired members of the gay community to fight for their rights instead of being condemned for their sexuality. Even today, gay people in the US use the incident at Stonewall to educate younger members of the gay community. "The younger generation should know about Stonewall so that they will realize it is possible to make change. It is possible to overcome entrenched, institutionalized prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry. And that they can live full equal lives." (Frank Kameny, aarp.org) This is the message that many members of the gay community continue to spread after the incident at the Stonewall Inn.
The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as in the 1950's president Eisenhower banned gays from holding federal jobs and many state institutions did the same. The lead taken by the federal government encouraged local police forces to harass gay citizens. "Vice officers regularly raided gay bars, sometimes arresting dozens of men and women on a single night" (Milestones). In spite of the adversity, out of the 1950s also came the first organized groups of gays, including leaders. The movement was small at first, but grew exponentially in short periods of time. Spurred on by the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the "homophile" (Milestones) movement took on more visibility, picketing government agencies and discriminatory policies. By 1969, around 50 gay organizations existed in the United States. The most crucial moment in blowing the gay rights movement wide open was on the evening of July 27, 1969, when a group of police raided a gay bar in New York City. This act prompted three days of rioting in the area called the Stonewall Rio...
Tightness is more prominent when the subject of same-sex marriage is raised in discussion. For a few, this is the all American dream; balance and flexibility. Remember, some of society will say they will bolster equivalent rights for gay people, however truly, they don't. With the verbal confrontations in the middle of congress and religious/social liberties pioneers, this is an issue that has unfolded after the Stonewall Riots that occurred in New York City in the 1960s. Cops attacked a joint recognize that for the LGBT populace. The individuals in the bar were captured and blamed for open obscenity due to their sex inclination. The LGBT populace battled back at the separation that they had encountered.
This new phase developed into the Gay Liberation Movement (GLF). The GLF exploded as gays, lesbians, and drag queens resisted police raids on the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village in New York City in 1969. David Carter’s Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked a Gay Revolution, challenges this narrative. Using an abundance of interviews, Carter argues that the Stonewall riots were not started by transvestites who patronized the bar. The first hand accounts demonstrate that transgender people and queer people of color only made up a small number of those resisting police efforts. Carter cites the reason for the police riots was due to Mafia activities of the owners who were extorting money from customers, some of whom were undercover police officers. This narrative has faced strong backlash from many veterans who argue that accounts like Carter’s continue to white wash and cis-wash the riots. Responding to Stonewall and its aftermath came a number of studies that brought gays and lesbians out of the metaphorical closet and into the mainstream. Consequently, these narratives tend to continue the trend of not discussing the critical roles that transgender and queer people of color played in the
Historically, the Civil Rights Movement was a time during the 1950’s and 60’s to eliminate segregation and gain equal rights. Looking back on all the events, and dynamic figures it produced, this description is very vague. In order to fully understand the Civil Rights Movement, you have to go back to its origin. Most people believe that Rosa Parks began the whole civil rights movement. She did in fact propel the Civil Rights Movement to unprecedented heights but, its origin began in 1954 with Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka was the cornerstone for change in American History as a whole. Even before our nation birthed the controversial ruling on May 17, 1954 that stated separate educational facilities were inherently unequal, there was Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896 that argued by declaring that state laws establish separate public schools for black and white students denied black children equal educational opportunities. Some may argue that Plessy vs. Ferguson is in fact backdrop for the Civil Rights Movement, but I disagree. Plessy vs. Ferguson was ahead of it’s time so to speak. “Separate but equal” thinking remained the body of teachings in America until it was later reputed by Brown vs. Board of Education. In 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, and prompted The Montgomery Bus Boycott led by one of the most pivotal leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. After the gruesome death of Emmett Till in 1955 in which the main suspects were acquitted of beating, shooting, and throwing the fourteen year old African American boy in the Tallahatchie River, for “whistling at a white woman”, this country was well overdo for change.
...the widespread growth of fear-based campaigns of sexual profiling and stigmatization against the homosexual community detrimental to the efforts of previous sexual liberation campaigns; inclusive of the stonewall riots in 1964 (NYC) (Singer, 1998).