Ravi turns back the pages of history and looks into the one single most important event in gay history- the Stonewall riots of 1969.
America after the Second World War was a conservative place. The country had had enough of war. Any behavior out of the ordinary was not tolerated. And homosexuality was unthinkable. It ranked right up there with Communism as one of the unmentionables, which a God fearing Christian country could do well without. Things started changing by the end of the decade. In the Sixties, the Civil Rights Movement picked up steam, so did the Counterculture Movement. The LGBT Community had to wait for a seminal event-Stonewall.
Stonewall: The Freedom Wars
Gay bars in the Fifties and Sixties had been dark and dismal places. This heightened the feeling of gay men that they were social reprobates. Raids on bars by the police were common. One such raid occurred upon the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969. Usually, the police would arrest the men in drag. This time, the men did not go quietly. They fought back in what would become known as the Stonewall Riots. These riots marked the start of the LGBT rights movement in America and around the world.
The police were known for roughly handling patrons. In one instance, a policeman picked up a woman and heaved her into the back of a police wagon. This incited the crowd to riot. The police were pushed back into the bar. They barricaded themselves inside the bar and called for reinforcements. An uprooted parking meter was used as a battering ram to get to the cops trapped inside. The riot started around 2 am and went on until 4 am. By the time it was over 13 people were arrested, a few were hospitalized and 4 police officers were injured. The Stonewall Inn was damaged and subsequently closed.
The riots marked the first time gay people had actually fought back. A sense of urgency was felt after the riots. This lead to the formation of societies like the Gay Liberation Front, the Gay Activists Alliance and others. The world has never been the same since.
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