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The Stonewall Inn was a gay club in Greenwich Village, New York. The Genovese crime family catered to the LGBTQ+ community in a time where being LGBTQ+ was highly crimanalized and punishable by law. Raids of bars suspected of serving LGBTQ+ individuals were common, and it was even more common for the mafia to be tipped off before hand to rid of their illegal activity.
53 Christopher St, New York, NY 10014
The Stonewall Inn was primarily known as the cheapest gay bar to enter. It was also one of the most unkempt gay bars in the area. With no running water in the kitchen or bathrooms, glasses were "cleaned" by dunking them into a tub of dirty water. Add onto that the lack of any fire exits in the building, the mafia did not hide that they didn't care about the wellbeing of their patrons, taking advantage of the position of LGBTQ+ people in the area.
Due to the mafia being, well, the mafia, these laws were not a problem to them.
Some of the anti-LGBT laws that pushed people into private bars like Stonewall Inn included but were not limited to:
This move by DeLarverie sparked a six-day long conflict between the police and LGBTQ+ individuals and allies that led to the Inn being set on fire.
After one of many violent raids of the Stonewall Inn, a police officer hit a lesbian over the head while waiting for a cop car outside of the bar. Fed up with the gross mistreatment of the police and the mafia, the woman, believed to be Storme DeLarverie, turned to the crowd of bystanders from the bar and shouted something along the lines of, "Aren't you going to do something?"
These stand-in's, better known as "gay-in's," are recognized as the first pride parades in the US.
On the one year anniversery of the Stonewall Riots, June 28th, 1970, organizations planned events for LGBTQ+ people to make a stand. With events from San Fransico to New York, LGBTQ+ peoples and allies took the the streets in a political stance- what would happen when LGBTQ+ individuals took a public stand against unjust laws in masses?
Stonewall was a pivitol moment for the Gay Liberation Movement, resulting in the formation of many organizations that pushed for the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in the United States. Stonewall is also the reason we celebrate Pride in June, recognized under the presidencies of Former President Bill Clinton, Former President Barack Obama, and President Joe Biden.
Remember, you must be able to care for yourself before you might take care of others.
We as a community still face many adversities on a legislative level. While Stonewall made waves for the movement in the late 1900's, it is up to follow in the footsteps of those who came before us and uphold the fight for our rights (if you so chose to).
"About Marsha P. Johnson" Marsha P. Johnson Memorial, uncj.org. Accessed Novemeber 11, 2022. ucnj.org/mpj/about-marsha-p-johnson/
History.com Editors, "Stonewall Riots" History.com, A&E Television Network, May 31, 2022. www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots#stonewall-s-legacy
Osgood, Harley. "Storme DeLarverie (1920-2014)" blackpast.org, September 20, 1028. www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/delarverie-storme-1920-2014/
Rothberg, Emma. "Sylvia Rivera" womenshistory.org, National Womens History Mueseum. March 2021. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sylvia-rivera
Holland, Brynn. "How Activists Plotted the First Gay Pride Parades" History.com, A&E Television Network, June 28, 2019. www.history.com/news/how-activists-plotted-the-first-gay-pride-parades