The First Pride was a Riot?

“Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad.” That’s what the headline read in the New York Daily News on July 6th, 1969. Words like pranced, lisped, Queen Power, and gay atomic bomb described the events of the previous Friday when “the Girls of Christopher Street,” erupted in a “homosexual riot.”

Phew. That’s a lot to unpack.

You’ve probably read a lot of posts in the past few days identifying that “the first pride was a riot,” in reference to the Stonewall Rebellion (I prefer this wordage over Riot).

The Stonewall Rebellion has been mythologized as the origins of the gay liberation movement, but gay, transgender, and gender-variant people had been engaging in protest and direct actions against oppression for at least a decade by that time. Stonewall stands out as the biggest and most consequential example of a kind of event that was becoming increasingly common rather than as a unique occurrence. But Stonewall was part of a much longer trajectory in which LGBTQ people became increasingly organized and eventually radicalized in their efforts to improve the circumstances of their lives. In the words of historian Michael Bronski, “Stonewall was less a turning point than a final stimulus in a series of public altercations.” Just as one example, gay rights activist Frank Kameny, organized “Annual Reminder” demonstrations in front of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall starting in 1965.

The very first pride parade was held in 1964 and was a bit … calmer … than what we think of today.

But what about Stonewall?

The Stonewall Inn was a small, shabby, Mafia-run bar (as were many of the gay-oriented bars in New York when homosexuality and cross-dressing were a crime). State law threatened bars with the loss of their liquor licenses if they tolerated same-sex dancing or employed or served men who wore women's clothing. The Mafia was able to pay off local officials in order to keep their businesses running.

Stonewall drew a racially mixed crowd and was popular mainly for its location on Christopher Street near Sheridan Square where many gay men cruised for casual sex and because it frequented go-go boys, cheap beer, a good jukebox, and a crowded dance floor.

Police raids were relatively frequent and relatively routine and uneventful. But in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 28th, 1969, events departed from the familiar script when police cars pulled up outside the Stonewall Inn. Bottles, rocks, and other heavy objections were soon being hurled at the police.

Eyewitness accounts of what happened in the early hours of June 28th, 1969 differ. Some witnesses claim a butch lesbian resisted police attempts to put her in the paddy wagon while others note that African American and Puerto Rican women in the crowd—many of them gay or transgender—grew angry at seeing their friends being arrested and escalated the level of opposition to the police.

Both stories may be true. In any case, the targeting of gender-variant people, people of color, and poor people during a police action fit the usual patterns of police hostility. I’m a big fan of Comedy Central’s Drunk History, and their take on the events of Stonewall and Marsha P. Johnson’s involvement is probably one of my favorites.

The next night, thousands of people regrouped at the Stonewall Inn to protest; when the police arrived to break up the crowd, street fighting became even more violent than the night before.

One observer, Joseph Lovett, remembered the event:

“I watched Stonewall happen.  I was standing on the corner of 7th Ave and Christopher Street with a friend of mine when we heard this noise down at the Stonewall.  We looked at one another and we knew that life was changing at that moment.  The idea of drag queens fighting back against the police – this did not happen.  It was like Rosa Parks not giving up her seat … This was the revolution.”

The 5 years following Stonewall were a riot of initiatives and efforts. The appearance of gay pride parades in various cities across the country was perhaps the biggest coo. A mass gathering of people identifying themselves as queer, assembling in broad daylight in a public space, was virtually unheard of. It served as a powerful message to wider society that LGBTQ people were ready for respect.

As we continue this Summer of Self-Education, I highly recommend PBS’s treatment of the Stonewall Rebellion. It’s currently streaming for free here: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/stonewall/

Prost,

Eliza