Slate:Perversion for Profit(1965), Citizens for Decency Through Law. Tweet at us @throughlineNPR, send us an email, or leave us a voicemail at (872) 588-8805. Dick Leitsch:We wore suits and ties because we wanted people, in the public, who were wearing suits and ties, to identify with us. The events that took place in June 1969 have been described as the birth of the gay-rights movement, but that's only partially true. When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City on June 28, 1969, the street erupted into violent protests that lasted for the next six days. In the sexual area, in psychology, psychiatry. John O'Brien Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:It was always hands up, what do you want? And gay people were standing around outside and the mood on the street was, "They think that they could disperse us last night and keep us from doing what we want to do, being on the street saying I'm gay and I'm proud? We didn't want to come on, you know, wearing fuzzy sweaters and lipstick, you know, and being freaks. Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn has undergone several transformations in the decades since it was the focal point of a three-day riot in 1969. Remember everything. In the trucks or around the trucks. [00:00:58] Well, this I mean, this is a part of my own history in this weird, inchoate sense. As kids, we played King Kong. The events that took place in June 1969 have been described as the birth of the gay-rights movement, but that's only partially true. From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. It was as bad as any situation that I had met in during the army, had just as much to worry about. Before Stonewall - Wikipedia W hen police raided a Greenwich Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, on June 28, 1969 50 years ago this month the harassment was routine for the time. Mike Wallace (Archival):The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous. The Chicago riots, the Human Be-in, the dope smoking, the hippies. Because he was homosexual. Mayor John Lindsay, like most mayors, wanted to get re-elected. It gives back a little of the terror they gave in my life. The newly restored 1984 documentary "Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community," re-released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the seminal Stonewall riots, remains a . There are a lot of kids here. This 1955 educational film warns of homosexuality, calling it "a sickness of the mind.". Mary Queen of the Scotch, Congo Woman, Captain Faggot, Miss Twiggy. TV Host (Archival):Ladies and gentlemen, the reason for using first names only forthese very, very charming contestants is that right now each one of them is breaking the law. We'll put new liquor in there, we'll put a new mirror up, we'll get a new jukebox." Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution He brought in gay-positive materials and placed that in a setting that people could come to and feel comfortable in. Creating the First Visual History of Queer Life Before Stonewall Making a landmark documentary about LGBTQ Americans before 1969 meant digging through countless archives to find traces of. Today, that event is seen as the start of the gay civil rights movement, but gay activists and organizations were standing up to harassment and discrimination years before. All kinds of designers, boxers, big museum people. Hear more of the conversation and historical interviews at the audio link. There was no going back now, there was no going back, there was no, we had discovered a power that we weren't even aware that we had. The lights came on, it's like stop dancing. Every arrest and prosecution is a step in the education of the public to the solution of the problem. PDF BEFORE STONEWALL press kit - First Run Features Mike Wallace (Archival):Two out of three Americans look upon homosexuals with disgust, discomfort or fear. I mean it didn't stop after that. One never knows when the homosexual is about. Martha Shelley:I don't know if you remember the Joan Baez song, "It isn't nice to block the doorway, it isn't nice to go to jail, there're nicer ways to do it but the nice ways always fail." Newly restored for the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Before Stonewall pries open the . One was the 1845 statute that made it a crime in the state to masquerade. Dick Leitsch:It was an invasion, I mean you felt outraged and stuff like you know what, God, this is America, what's this country come to? Because if they weren't there fast, I was worried that there was something going on that I didn't know about and they weren't gonna come. You see these cops, like six or eight cops in drag. Do you want them to lose all chance of a normal, happy, married life? Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:But there were little, tiny pin holes in the plywood windows, I'll call them the windows but they were plywood, and we could look out from there and every time I went over and looked out through one of those pin holes where he did, we were shocked at how big the crowd had become. Stonewall Forever is a documentary from NYC's LGBT Community Center directed by Ro Haber. He may appear normal, and it may be too late when you discover he is mentally ill. John O'Brien:I was a poor, young gay person. Doug Cramer This documentary uses extensive archival film, movie clips . Janice Flood Slate:Activity Group Therapy (1950), Columbia University Educational Films. Other images in this film are BEFORE STONEWALL - Alliance of Women Film Journalists So I attempted suicide by cutting my wrists. They put some people on the street right in front ofThe Village Voiceprotesting the use of the word fag in my story. How do you think that would affect him mentally, for the rest of their lives if they saw an act like that being? Danny Garvin:We were talking about the revolution happening and we were walking up 7th Avenue and I was thinking it was either Black Panthers or the Young Lords were going to start it and we turned the corner from 7th Avenue onto Christopher Street and we saw the paddy wagon pull up there. Then during lunch, Ralph showed him some pornographic pictures. In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's LGBT community. I mean I'm only 19 and this'll ruin me. Judith Kuchar They were the storm troopers. It was narrated by author Rita Mae Brown, directed by Greta Schiller, co-directed by Robert Rosenberg, and co-produced by John Scagliotti and Rosenberg, and Schiller. I mean I'm talking like sardines. And the police were showing up. Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen Gay History Papers and Photographs, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations Louis Mandelbaum America thought we were these homosexual monsters and we were so innocent, and oddly enough, we were so American. Even non-gay people. A sickness that was not visible like smallpox, but no less dangerous and contagious. This was in front of the police. Eric Marcus, Writer:The Mattachine Society was the first gay rights organization, and they literally met in a space with the blinds drawn. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:The mob raised its hand and said "Oh, we'll volunteer," you know, "We'll set up some gay bars and serve over-priced, watered-down drinks to you guys." There was at least one gay bar that was run just as a hustler bar for straight gay married men. You know, all of a sudden, I had brothers and sisters, you know, which I didn't have before. They are taught that no man is born homosexual and many psychiatrists now believe that homosexuality begins to form in the first three years of life. NBC News Archives Where did you buy it? Brief Summary Of The Documentary 'Before Stonewall' | Bartleby Producers Library Jerry Hoose Giles Kotcher And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble. And so we had to create these spaces, mostly in the trucks. David Huggins View in iTunes. Trevor, Post Production You were alone. And the harder she fought, the more the cops were beating her up and the madder the crowd got. Now, 50 years later, the film is back. Martin Boyce:The day after the first riot, when it was all over, and I remember sitting, sun was soon to come, and I was sitting on the stoop, and I was exhausted and I looked at that street, it was dark enough to allow the street lamps to pick up the glitter of all the broken glass, and all the debris, and all the different colored cloth, that was in different places. They call them hotels, motels, lovers' lanes, drive-in movie theaters, etc. The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world. They didn't know what they were walking into. ITN Source I never believed in that. That's more an uprising than a riot. We were winning. The first police officer that came in with our group said, "The place is under arrest. We assembled on Christopher Street at 6th Avenue, to march. Danny Garvin:Something snapped. John O'Brien:I was very anti-police, had many years already of activism against the forces of law and order. Danny Garvin:We became a people. And I hadn't had enough sleep, so I was in a somewhat feverish state, and I thought, "We have to do something, we have to do something," and I thought, "We have to have a protest march of our own." Jimmy knew he shouldn't be interested but, well, he was curious. So if any one of you, have let yourself become involved with an adult homosexual, or with another boy, and you're doing this on a regular basis, you better stop quick. I was a man. Getting then in the car, rocking them back and forth. And I ran into Howard Smith on the street,The Village Voicewas right there. Evan Eames Before Stonewall 1984 Unrated 1 h 27 m IMDb RATING 7.5 /10 1.1K YOUR RATING Rate Play trailer 2:21 1 Video 7 Photos Documentary History The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. ABCNEWS VideoSource The film brings together voices from over 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement to explore queer activism before, during and after the Stonewall Riots. In the Life I famously used the word "fag" in the lead sentence I said "the forces of faggotry." And this went on for hours. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was a bottle club which meant that I guess you went to the door and you bought a membership or something for a buck and then you went in and then you could buy drinks. We didn't expect we'd ever get to Central Park. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Well, we did use the small hoses on the fire extinguishers. (158) 7.5 1 h 26 min 1985 13+. And that's what it was, it was a war. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:I had been in some gay bars either for a story or gay friends would say, "Oh we're going to go in for a drink there, come on in, are you too uptight to go in?" John O'Brien:Cops got hurt. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:If someone was dressed as a woman, you had to have a female police officer go in with her. I made friends that first day. Eric Marcus has spent years interviewing people who were there that night, as well as those who were pushing for gay rights before Stonewall. That night, the police ran from us, the lowliest of the low. I mean you got a major incident going on down there and I didn't see any TV cameras at all. [7] In 1989, it won the Festival's Plate at the Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Chris Mara In a spontaneous show of support and frustration, the citys gay community rioted for three nights in the streets, an event that is considered the birth of the modern Gay Rights Movement. Pamela Gaudiano My father said, "About time you fags rioted.". Raymond Castro:If that light goes on, you know to stop whatever you're doing, and separate. This produced an enormous amount of anger within the lesbian and gay community in New York City and in other parts of America. It was a down at a heels kind of place, it was a lot of street kids and things like that. Raymond Castro And I just didn't understand that. Jorge Garcia-Spitz Tom Caruso Dana Kirchoff Virginia Apuzzo: I grew up with that. Fred Sargeant:Things started off small, but there was an energy that began to flow through the crowd. 'Cause I really realized that I was being trained as a straight person, so I could really fool these people. They were to us. Leroy S. Mobley Narrator (Archival):Richard Enman, president of the Mattachine Society of Florida, whose goal is to legalize homosexuality between consenting adults, was a reluctant participant in tonight's program. Doric Wilson:Somebody that I knew that was older than me, his family had him sent off where they go up and damage the frontal part of the brain. Homo, homo was big. June 21, 2019 1:29 PM EDT. There were gay bars in Midtown, there were gay bars uptown, there were certain kinds of gay bars on the Upper East Side, you know really, really, really buttoned-up straight gay bars. And when you got a word, the word was homosexuality and you looked it up. Geordie, Liam and Theo Gude We went, "Oh my God. Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! But I was just curious, I didn't want to participate because number one it was so packed. You know. Jeremiah Hawkins William Eskridge, Professor of Law:At the peak, as many as 500 people per year were arrested for the crime against nature, and between 3- and 5,000 people per year arrested for various solicitation or loitering crimes. You had no place to try to find an identity. BBC Worldwide Americas Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And I keep listening and listening and listening, hoping I'm gonna hear sirens any minute and I was very freaked. We'd say, "Here comes Lillian.". I would get in the back of the car and they would say, "We're going to go see faggots." Danny Garvin:It was the perfect time to be in the Village. The mirrors, all the bottles of liquor, the jukebox, the cigarette machines. Daily News Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:As much as I don't like to say it, there's a place for violence. Quentin Heilbroner And then they send them out in the street and of course they did make arrests, because you know, there's all these guys who cruise around looking for drag queens. All the rules were off in the '60s. Once it started, once that genie was out of the bottle, it was never going to go back in. But we're going to pay dearly for this. Obama signed the memorandum to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. Not even us. Martin Boyce:There were these two black, like, banjee guys, and they were saying, "What's goin' on man?" So gay people were being strangled, shot, thrown in the river, blackmailed, fired from jobs. Raymond Castro:Incendiary devices were being thrown in I don't think they were Molotov cocktails, but it was just fire being thrown in when the doors got open. Eventually something was bound to blow. A year earlier, young gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police near a bar called The Stonewall Inn. Danny Garvin:There was more anger and more fight the second night. Before Stonewall - Trailer - YouTube So I got into the subway, and on the car was somebody I recognized and he said, "I've never been so scared in my life," and I said, "Well, please let there be more than ten of us, just please let there be more than ten of us. Martin Boyce:I heard about the trucks, which to me was fascinated me, you know, it had an imagination thing that was like Marseilles, how can it only be a few blocks away? Liz Davis Jerry Hoose:The bar itself was a toilet. Jerry Hoose:Who was gonna complain about a crackdown against gay people? And it was fantastic. Abstract. When you exit, have some identification and it'll be over in a short time." Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:We would scatter, ka-poom, every which way. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:The Stonewall pulled in everyone from every part of gay life. John DiGiacomo It eats you up inside not being comfortable with yourself. But, that's when we knew, we were ourselves for the first time. It was a horror story. New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community is a 1984 American documentary film about the LGBT community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community Raymond Castro:We were in the back of the room, and the lights went on, so everybody stopped what they were doing, because now the police started coming in, raiding the bar. Leaflets in the 60s were like the internet, today. Dick Leitsch:And so the cops came with these buses, like five buses, and they all were full of tactical police force. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We had maybe six people and by this time there were several thousand outside. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:They started busting cans of tear gas. And the police escalated their crackdown on bars because of the reelection campaign. The shop had been threatened, we would get hang-up calls, calls where people would curse at us on the phone, we'd had vandalism, windows broken, streams of profanity. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:There were no instructions except: put them out of business. Here are my ID cards, you knew they were phonies. Narrator (Archival):This is a nation of laws. It was tremendous freedom. This 1968 Film Put Drag Queens In The Spotlight Before Stonewall - HuffPost And the people coming out weren't going along with it so easily. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Yes, entrapment did exist, particularly in the subway system, in the bathrooms. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:The Stonewall riots came at a central point in history. The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:All throughout the 60s in New York City, the period when the New York World's Fair was attracting visitors from all over America and all over the world. I guess they're deviates. "We're not going.". American Airlines Former U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with gay rights activist Frank Kameny after signing a memorandum on federal benefits and non-discrimination in the Oval Office on June 17, 2009. Things were being thrown against the plywood, we piled things up to try to buttress it. The idea was to be there first. It was as if they were identifying a thing. The cops were barricaded inside. Mafia house beer? Virginia Apuzzo:It was free but not quite free enough for us. If there's one place in the world where you can dance and feel yourself fully as a person and that's threatened with being taken away, those words are fighting words. More than a half-century after its release, " The Queen " serves as a powerful time capsule of queer life as it existed before the 1969 Stonewall uprising. And there, we weren't allowed to be alone, the police would raid us still. Martha Shelley:We participated in demonstrations in Philadelphia at Independence Hall. Yvonne Ritter:And then everybody started to throw pennies like, you know, this is what they were, they were nothing but copper, coppers, that's what they were worth. And some people came out, being very dramatic, throwing their arms up in a V, you know, the victory sign. 1969: The Stonewall Uprising - Library of Congress Before Stonewall - Letterboxd Doric Wilson:When I was very young, one of the terms for gay people was twilight people, meaning that we never came out until twilight, 'til it got dark. Fifty years ago, a riot broke out at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village. They'd go into the bathroom or any place that was private, that they could either feel them, or check them visually. But it's serious, don't kid yourselves about it. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:At a certain point, it felt pretty dangerous to me but I noticed that the cop that seemed in charge, he said you know what, we have to go inside for safety.

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