The Stonewall rioters’ call for “gay power” helped to accelerate the nascent gay liberation movement.Įstelle Freedman, Edgar E. The crowds drew energy from accumulated anger over harassment and discrimination against LGBT people and adopted the militant language and tactics of the black power, anti-war and women’s liberation movements. The riots recurred for the next few nights. They forcibly halted the arrests and held police in the bar while thousands of locals rioted in the streets. On the night of June 27-28, 1969, however, the patrons – many of them young people of color – successfully fought back. New York City police regularly raided bars and clubs that catered to gay men, lesbians and drag queens, including the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. Her recent books include Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America and Redefining Rape: Sexual Violence in the Era of Suffrage and Segregation.Ĭan you summarize what happened during the Stonewall riots and how they occurred?
She also co-founded Stanford’s Program in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. History in the School of Humanities and Sciences, has studied and written about gay and LGBTQ culture and history.
But according to Freedman, gay rights activism efforts date back to at least the 1950s.įreedman, the Edgar E. The incident catalyzed protests across the country about how the police treated the LGBTQ community and marked a turning point in the gay rights movement in the United States. Since then, the event now referred to as the Stonewall riots or uprising has become a powerful symbol of gay liberation. Here, Freedman reflects on the night of June 27, 1969, when New York City Police Department officers raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan, and harassed its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender customers. Gay pride parades have evolved from protest marches in the 1970s to colorful celebrations like this one in New York City in 2017.