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. Dan Martino Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:The police would zero in on us because sometimes they would be in plain clothes, and sometimes they would even entrap. Mayor John Lindsay, like most mayors, wanted to get re-elected. A New York Police officer grabs a man by the hair as another officer clubs a. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:Saturday night there it was. Fifty years ago, a gay bar in New York City called The Stonewall Inn was raided by police, and what followed were days of rebellion where protesters and police clashed. The film combined personal interviews, snapshots and home movies, together with historical footage. In the Life You know, we wanted to be part of the mainstream society. And they were lucky that door was closed, they were very lucky. Interviewer (Archival):What type of laws are you after? And there was like this tension in the air and it just like built and built. But you live with it, you know, you're used to this, after the third time it happened, or, the third time you heard about it, that's the way the world is. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:It was always hands up, what do you want? This documentary uses extensive archival film, movie clips and personal recollections to construct an audiovisual history of the gay community before the Stonewall riots. [7] In 1987, the film won Emmy Awards for Best Historical/Cultural Program and Best Research. They were supposed to be weak men, limp-wristed. WGBH Educational Foundation The overwhelming number of medical authorities said that homosexuality was a mental defect, maybe even a form of psychopathy. Dick Leitsch:Very often, they would put the cops in dresses, with makeup and they usually weren't very convincing. But we had to follow up, we couldn't just let that be a blip that disappeared. Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. It was tremendous freedom. Raymond Castro:So then I got pushed back in, into the Stonewall by these plain clothes cops and they would not let me out, they didn't let anybody out. Before Stonewall. Directors Greta Schiller Robert Rosenberg (co-director) Stars Rita Mae Brown Maua Adele Ajanaku Danny Garvin:It was a chance to find love. 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." Eric Marcus, Recreation Still Photography Oh, tell me about your anxiety. And as awful as people might think that sounds, it's the way history has always worked. "You could have got us in a lot of trouble, you could have got us closed up." 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. 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. Martha Babcock Jerry Hoose:I remember I was in a paddy wagon one time on the way to jail, we were all locked up together on a chain in the paddy wagon and the paddy wagon stopped for a red light or something and one of the queens said "Oh, this is my stop." Urban Stages Martha Shelley:If you were in a small town somewhere, everybody knew you and everybody knew what you did and you couldn't have a relationship with a member of your own sex, period. Ellinor Mitchell [2][3] Later in 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4][5][6]. I never believed in that. Prisoner (Archival):I realize that, but the thing is that for life I'll be wrecked by this record, see? I am not alone, there are other people that feel exactly the same way.". This was the first time I could actually sense, not only see them fearful, I could sense them fearful. This is one thing that if you don't get caught by us, you'll be caught by yourself. I never saw so many gay people dancing in my life. Alfredo del Rio, Archival Still and Motion Images Courtesy of 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. But everybody knew it wasn't normal stuff and everyone was on edge and that was the worst part of it because you knew they were on edge and you knew that the first shot that was fired meant all the shots would be fired. The award winning film Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free the dramatic story of the sometimes horrifying public and private existences experienced by gay and lesbian Americans since the 1920s. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:A rather tough lesbian was busted in the bar and when she came out of the bar she was fighting the cops and trying to get away. So you couldn't have a license to practice law, you couldn't be a licensed doctor. Andrea Weiss is a documentary filmmaker and author with a Ph.D. in American History. Because he was homosexual. 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 gay community. Virginia Apuzzo:It's very American to say, "This is not right." It premiered at the 1984 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United States on June 27, 1985. In the sexual area, in psychology, psychiatry. Geordie, Liam and Theo Gude And it's that hairpin trigger thing that makes the riot happen. 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. Narrator (Archival):We arrested homosexuals who committed their lewd acts in public places. Danny Garvin:Everybody would just freeze or clam up. Dick Leitsch:Mattachino in Italy were court jesters; the only people in the whole kingdom who could speak truth to the king because they did it with a smile. Atascadero was known in gay circles as the Dachau for queers, and appropriately so. Scott McPartland/Getty Images We ought to know, we've arrested all of them. Janice Flood It eats you up inside. 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." Raymond Castro:Society expected you to, you know, grow up, get married, have kids, which is what a lot of people did to satisfy their parents. Martin Boyce:Oh, Miss New Orleans, she wouldn't be stopped. Colonial House A gay rights march in New York in favor of the 1968 Civil Rights Act being amended to include gay rights. Danny Garvin:Bam, bam and bash and then an opening and then whoa. Tweet at us @throughlineNPR, send us an email, or leave us a voicemail at (872) 588-8805. Dick Leitsch:You read about Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams and Gore Vidal and all these actors and stuff, Liberace and all these people running around doing all these things and then you came to New York and you found out, well maybe they're doing them but, you know, us middle-class homosexuals, we're getting busted all the time, every time we have a place to go, it gets raided. Newly restored for the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Before Stonewall pries open the . William Eskridge, Professor of Law:Gay people who were sentenced to medical institutions because they were found to be sexual psychopaths, were subjected sometimes to sterilization, occasionally to castration, sometimes to medical procedures, such as lobotomies, which were felt by some doctors to cure homosexuality and other sexual diseases. It was done in our little street talk. All rights reserved. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:I had a column inThe Village Voicethat ran from '66 all the way through '84. Homo, homo was big. Martin Boyce:I had cousins, ten years older than me, and they had a car sometimes. And it would take maybe a half hour to clear the place out. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:There were gay bars all over town, not just in Greenwich Village. Cause I was from the streets. He is not interested in, nor capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage. 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. And we all relaxed. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:Those of us that were the street kids we didn't think much about the past or the future. Before Stonewall 1984 Directed by Greta Schiller, Robert Rosenberg Synopsis 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. It was the only time I was in a gladiatorial sport that I stood up in. Except for the few mob-owned bars that allowed some socializing, it was basically for verboten. Transcript Enlarge this image To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, activists rode their motorcycles during the city's 1989 gay-pride parade. Well, little did he know that what was gonna to happen later on was to make history. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:So you're outside, and you see like two people walking toward these trucks and you think, "Oh I think I'll go in there," you go in there, there's like a lot of people in there and it's all dark. There was at least one gay bar that was run just as a hustler bar for straight gay married men. First you gotta get past the door. Virginia Apuzzo: I grew up with that. Just making their lives miserable for once. Martin Boyce:For me, there was no bar like the Stonewall, because the Stonewall was like the watering hole on the savannah. Danny Garvin:And the cops just charged them. Is that conceivable? We were going to propose something that all groups could participate in and what we ended up producing was what's now known as the gay pride march. This is every year in New York City. When you exit, have some identification and it'll be over in a short time." This book, and the related documentary film, use oral histories to present students with a varied view of lesbian and gay experience. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:All of straight America, in terms of the middle class, was recoiling in horror from what was happening all around them at that time, in that summer and the summer before. They raided the Checkerboard, which was a very popular gay bar, a week before the Stonewall. WPA Film Library, Thanks to Giles Kotcher John O'Brien:I was with a group that we actually took a parking meter out of theground, three or four people, and we used it as a battering ram. They'd go into the bathroom or any place that was private, that they could either feel them, or check them visually. People that were involved in it like me referred to it as "The First Run." Never, never, never. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:Ed Koch who was a democratic party leader in the Greenwich Village area, was a specific leader of the local forces seeking to clean up the streets. Danny Garvin:He's a faggot, he's a sissy, queer. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Our radio was cut off every time we got on the police radio. A year earlier, young gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police near a bar called The Stonewall Inn. It was a down at a heels kind of place, it was a lot of street kids and things like that. It was fun to see fags. View in iTunes. The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. I went in there and they took bats and just busted that place up. Quentin Heilbroner Heather Gude, Archival Research Somebody grabbed me by the leg and told me I wasn't going anywhere. Jerry Hoose:Who was gonna complain about a crackdown against gay people? Dick Leitsch:New York State Liquor Authority had a rule that one known homosexual at a licensed premise made the place disorderly, so nobody would set up a place where we could meet because they were afraid that the cops would come in to close it, and that's how the Mafia got into the gay bar business. and someone would say, "Well, they're still fighting the police, let's go," and they went in. Lester Senior Housing Community, Jewish Community Housing Corporation And it was those loudest people, the most vulnerable, the most likely to be arrested, were the ones that were doing the real fighting. 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. In 1999, producer Scagliotti directed a companion piece, After Stonewall. But the before section, I really wanted people to have a sense of what it felt like to be gay, lesbian, transgender, before Stonewall and before you have this mass civil rights movement that comes after Stonewall. "Daybreak Express" by D.A. Martin Boyce It said the most dreadful things, it said nothing about being a person. All of the rules that I had grown up with, and that I had hated in my guts, other people were fighting against, and saying "No, it doesn't have to be this way.". Leroy S. Mobley The men's room was under police surveillance. David Carter, Author ofStonewall:There was also vigilantism, people were using walkie-talkies to coordinate attacks on gay men. TV Host (Archival):And Sonia is that your own hair? If you came to a place like New York, you at least had the opportunity of connecting with people, and finding people who didn't care that you were gay. Danny Garvin:It was the perfect time to be in the Village. Doric Wilson:And I looked back and there were about 2,000 people behind us, and that's when I knew it had happened. I have pondered this as "Before Stonewall," my first feature documentary, is back in cinemas after 35 years. Jerry Hoose Jerry Hoose:I mean the riot squad was used to riots. Martin Boyce:You could be beaten, you could have your head smashed in a men's room because you were looking the wrong way. I mean does anyone know what that is? Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:They were sexual deviates. 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. And the people coming out weren't going along with it so easily. If there had been a riot of that proportion in Harlem, my God, you know, there'd have been cameras everywhere. Dan Bodner There was all these drags queens and these crazy people and everybody was carrying on. 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. I didn't think I could have been any prettier than that night. Dr. Socarides (Archival):I think the whole idea of saying "the happy homosexual" is to, uh, to create a mythology about the nature of homosexuality. Sophie Cabott Black TV Host (Archival):That's a very lovely dress too that you're wearing Simone. Things were just changing. Susan Liberti So I run down there. Eric Marcus, Writer:It was incredibly hot. Over a short period of time, he will be unable to get sexually aroused to the pictures, and hopefully, he will be unable to get sexually aroused inside, in other settings as well. 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. I wanted to kill those cops for the anger I had in me. If anybody should find out I was gay and would tell my mother, who was in a wheelchair, it would have broken my heart and she would have thought she did something wrong. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was getting worse and worse. Doing things like that. John O'Brien And I found them in the movie theatres, sitting there, next to them. You know, Howard's concern was and my concern was that if all hell broke loose, they'd just start busting heads. And that, that was a very haunting issue for me. And Vito and I walked the rest of the whole thing with tears running down our face. Cop (Archival):Anyone can walk into that men's room, any child can walk in there, and see what you guys were doing. Revealing and often humorous, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotionally-charged sparking of today's gay rights movement . Original Language: English. The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States. But we're going to pay dearly for this. Do you want them to lose all chance of a normal, happy, married life? And some people came out, being very dramatic, throwing their arms up in a V, you know, the victory sign. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We were looking for secret exits and one of the policewomen was able to squirm through the window and they did find a way out. Almost anything you could name. and I didn't see anything but a forest of hands. And I just didn't understand that. Narrator (Archival):This is one of the county's principal weekend gathering places for homosexuals, both male and female. 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. Raymond Castro:There were mesh garbage cans being lit up on fire and being thrown at the police. On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided a Greenwich Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, setting off a three-day riot that launched the modern American gay rights movement. But as we were going up 6th Avenue, it kept growing. Things were being thrown against the plywood, we piled things up to try to buttress it. I was proud. And they were having a meeting at town hall and there were 400 guys who showed up, and I think a couple of women, talking about these riots, 'cause everybody was really energized and upset and angry about it. Fred Sargeant:When it was clear that things were definitely over for the evening, we decided we needed to do something more. We assembled on Christopher Street at 6th Avenue, to march. The scenes were photographed with telescopic lenses. Getty Images Mike Nuget A sickness that was not visible like smallpox, but no less dangerous and contagious. The Underground Lounge 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? And there was tear gas on Saturday night, right in front of the Stonewall. John O'Brien:And deep down I believed because I was gay and couldn't speak out for my rights, was probably one of the reasons that I was so active in the Civil Rights Movement. Yvonne Ritter:I had just turned 18 on June 27, 1969. Martin Boyce:We were like a Hydra. We went, "Oh my God. But the . Narrator (Archival):Do you want your son enticed into the world of homosexuals, or your daughter lured into lesbianism? Jerry Hoose:And I got to the corner of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street, crossed the street and there I had found Nirvana. Before Stonewall was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival. 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. Doric Wilson Stonewall Uprising Program Transcript Slate: In 1969, homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois. It meant nothing to us. 1984 documentary film by Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg, "Berlinale 2016: Panorama Celebrates Teddy Award's 30th Anniversary and Announces First Titles in Programme", "Guest Post: What I Learned From Revisiting My 1984 Documentary 'Before Stonewall', "See the 25 New Additions to the National Film Registry, From Purple Rain to Clerks", "Complete National Film Registry Listing", "Before Stonewall - Independent Historical Film", Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community (Newly Restored), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Before_Stonewall&oldid=1134540821, Documentary films about United States history, Historiography of LGBT in the United States, United States National Film Registry films, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 19 January 2023, at 05:30. And they wore dark police uniforms and riot helmets and they had billy clubs and they had big plastic shields, like Roman army, and they actually formed a phalanx, and just marched down Christopher Street and kind of pushed us in front of them. My father said, "About time you fags rioted.". John O'Brien:And then somebody started a fire, they started with little lighters and matches. You see these cops, like six or eight cops in drag. Ed Koch, mayorof New York City from1978 to 1989, discussesgay civil rights in New York in the 1960s. John van Hoesen This was ours, here's where the Stonewall was, here's our Mecca. David Huggins I was never seduced by an older person or anything like that. The Stonewall riots inspired gay Americans to fight for their rights. Liz Davis On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Saying I don't want to be this way, this is not the life I want. Participants of the 1969 Greenwich Village uprising describe the effect that Stonewall had on their lives. Martin Boyce:There were these two black, like, banjee guys, and they were saying, "What's goin' on man?" 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. A sickness of the mind. Stonewall Forever Explore the monument Watch the documentary Download the AR app About & FAQ Privacy Policy Suzanne Poli Dick Leitsch:And the blocks were small enough that we could run around the block and come in behind them before they got to the next corner. Even non-gay people. These homosexuals glorify unnatural sex acts. As kids, we played King Kong. Oddball Film + Video, San Francisco Slate:The Homosexuals(1967), CBS Reports. It eats you up inside not being comfortable with yourself. 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. They would bang on the trucks. Alan Lechner 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. People started throwing pennies. hide caption. There may be some here today that will be homosexual in the future. Raymond Castro:I'd go in there and I would look and I would just cringe because, you know, people would start touching me, and "Hello, what are you doing there if you don't want to be touched?" A Q-Ball Productions film for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:There were no instructions except: put them out of business. Eric Marcus, Writer:Before Stonewall, there was no such thing as coming out or being out. He pulls all his men inside. John DiGiacomo Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. All I knew about was that I heard that there were people down in Times Square who were gay and that's where I went to. And you will be caught, don't think you won't be caught, because this is one thing you cannot get away with. Homosexuals do not want that, you might find some fringe character someplace who says that that's what he wants. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:There were all these articles in likeLife Magazineabout how the Village was liberal and people that were called homosexuals went there. So in every gay pride parade every year, Stonewall lives. This was in front of the police. Martha Shelley:Before Stonewall, the homophile movement was essentially the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis and all of these other little gay organizations, some of which were just two people and a mimeograph machine. Linton Media 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. The mayor of New York City, the police commissioner, were under pressure to clean up the streets of any kind of quote unquote "weirdness." 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. First Run Features A word that would be used in the 1960s for gay men and lesbians. TV Host (Archival):Are those your own eyelashes? Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:TheNew York TimesI guess printed a story, but it wasn't a major story. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:As much as I don't like to say it, there's a place for violence. And so we had to create these spaces, mostly in the trucks.

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