Essay Sample on Stonewall Riot: Birth of the Gay Liberation Movement

Introduction

Stonewall Riots is an event that occurred after police officers raided the Stonewall Inn, a club located in New York's Greenwich Village. Research shows that the bar was an entertainment joint for gays, lesbian and transgender community (Nappo 3-5). During that period, homosexual acts remained banned in every state except Illinois, and bars could be closed for having gay employees, patrons or clients. The Stonewall Riot marked the start of the contemporary gay liberation movement in the United States. After the riot, activists, and organizations worked more cohesively than in the previous decades to ensure they gained Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgender (LGBT) rights in the United States. The paper seeks to explore and demonstrate how the LGBT community used the Stonewall event as the basis to remind the government of the essence of having equality.

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Largely, the LGBT were not only struggling for equal rights but they also wanted to know their past and identity. The Stonewall riots often depict the boldness of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgender communities in the face of police harassment and discriminatory treatment. The adverse effects of the Stonewall Riots were both instant and far-fetching (Beemyn, 22). Among the first to notice a change in the LGBTQ community was the Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine, the police officer who fronted the raid on the bar that fateful night. The LGBTQ youths felt the sense of empowerment and were unwilling to condone with the discriminatory treatment and brutality that was being leveled at them (Beemyn, 23). By 1971, different groups comprising of university and college students had been formed to signify the sense of militancy with the aim of bringing an end to police brutality and discriminatory acts in the United States (Beemyn, 22).

On the same hand, transgender people created their own organizations immediately after the Stonewall Riots. For example, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) was established in New York in 1970 (Beemyn, 23-24). The main goal of the organization was to fight for the rights of many young transgender individuals who were residing on the city's streets (Beemyn, 23). Before the occurrence of Stonewall riots, the homophile groups were the only support network present for gay people such as the 'Mattachine Society,' and the 'Daughters of Bilitis' (Miller 2). There was also the formation of less radical groups such as the Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) which focused on attacking laws banning gay sex (Miller 2).

The leaders in the gay community opted to take action after seeing the Stonewall riots, this led to the creation of pride parades to celebrate the LGBTQ identity. One of the pioneers of that parade was Martha Shelley who was already involved with Daughters of Bilitis (Martha Shelley 3-4). After the riots, she assisted in establishing a committee that planned the first gay rights parade in history. At the same time, according to scholar Drescher, magazines and newspapers such as the Hymnal began running articles, which articulated homosexual topics with the goal of inspiring homosexual culture. Similar, print culture particularly movies and music started expressing homosexual themes. For instance, Hair's music in 1968 celebrated homosexual theme along with harmony (Drescher 456). This is among the popular culture that inspired gay and lesbians about the verge for a change.

Additionally, Stonewall Inn adopted a Mafia trick in order to serve alcohol since the state authority had deemed it illegal to give an alcohol license to homosexuals (Drescher 443-460). The club adopted a bottle club system, where members were to bring their own bottles of alcohol to the club. In relation to that, they would write their names on the bottles and leave them in the club for future use. Stonewall made up to the clients in the fact that they could use their system to supply alcohol to the club until 1969 when police raids persisted (Thorstad 321). However, protestors responded to the situation denouncing that the oppression and discrimination were coming out fast.

According to xxx, the protestors could use humor to resist the acts, and also spread could homosexual awareness in New York City. The riots and resistance showed the police and the authority that the general community was being harassed. Despite the fact that the 1969 event was a socio-political occurrence, several village voices published articles headlining riots and raid at Stonewall Inn, and at the same time, political groups started protesting for homosexual equality in the New York City (Thorstad 319-350). The fights from the groups successfully removed homosexuality from APA's list of mental illness. Oppression and discrimination to gay and lesbian reduced giving them rights of equality. Among other activities, Stonewall become a word for fighting, for freedom, and for equality.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the 1969 event is a commemoration of the Stonewall and the celebration of gay and lesbian freedom. The homosexual community with their riots, and marches aimed at gaining civil rights in order to support gay men and women who experienced oppression and discrimination. It is through constant grind activism and gay people creating awareness and protests that change occurred.

Works Cited

Beemyn, Genny. "Transgender History in the United States." pp. 1-52. Retrieved from: https://www.umass.edu/stonewall/sites/default/files/Infoforandabout/transpeople/genny_beemyn_transgender_history_in_the_united_states.pdf

Drescher, Jack. "A history of homosexuality and organized psychoanalysis." Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry 36.3 (2008): 443-460. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jack_Drescher/publication/23298844_A_History_of_Homosexuality_and_Organized_Psychoanalysis/links/53e8f8dd0cf2dc24b3c7e369/A-History-of-Homosexuality-and-Organized-Psychoanalysis.pdf

Miller, Robin. "Stepping off the Curb: How Stonewall Kickstarted The Gay Revolution." (2016). pp.1-9. Retrieved from: https://edspace.american.edu/rm4638a/wp-content/uploads/sites/1268/2018/09/Stonewall-Thesis-Paper.pdf

Nappo, Meaghan K. Not a Quiet Riot: Stonewall, and the Creation of Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay, and Transgender Community and Identity Through Public History Techniques. Diss. University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2010. Retrieved from: http://dl.uncw.edu/Etd/2010-3/nappom/meaghannappo.pdf

Thorstad, David. "Homosexuality and the American left: the impact of Stonewall." Journal of Homosexuality 29.4 (1995): 319-350. Retrieved from: http://williamapercy.com/wiki/images/Homosexuality_and_the_american_left.pdf