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Week in Review Stonewall Riots by David Bianco
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Among gay organizations today, there's everything from the Stonewall Democratic Club to the Stonewall Chorale; there's even a bottled water called Stonewall. The word has taken on mythic proportions in lesbian and gay culture. But its widespread appropriation doesn't dilute the importance of what happened in the summer of 1969 in New York City. The event is still a hot topic of debate in gay circles, with much disagreement about what actually precipitated the violence and who took part in it. One legend holds that Judy Garland's funeral, held June 27 in Manhattan, fanned the flames of gay rage. Other versions of the story claim that dozens of sequined drag queens and a mysterious, unidentified butch lesbian were at the forefront of the street rebellion. But a few facts seem certain. In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a dingy, Mafia-run "private club" on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village with a predominantly gay clientele. The charge was illegal sale of alcohol. It was the second time that week the bar had been targeted by the police, and other gay bars had also been raided in prior weeks. Police officers lined up the Stonewall's 200 patrons to check identification. Most were free to leave, but the staff, as well as three drag queens and two male-to-female transsexuals, were detained. | |
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