It was a fight for freedom and equality for people in the LGBT community, and it actually helped actually form a LGBT community.
The Stonewall Riots link into many social concepts.
This was one of the first instances where the gay community actually became a community, and it was the first time that they all came together to take a stand against the oppression that had faced for too long. For days, there were several demonstrations all over the city, of various degrees of scale and size. More police arrived and beat the protesters away, but the next day many more gay men and women had come to join the protests, hearing the word. They started rioting, throwing things at the police, and yelling “gay power”. Many gay customers in the early hours of June 28 th at the Stonewall Inn, which was then owned by the Mafia, became anger at the discrimination they faced by the police, and took a stand. In 1952 homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder, and New York specifically had a law making it illegal to be gay. They lived double lives, too afraid of what people would do if they knew of their sexual orientation. Many LGBT people were fired from their jobs, or evicted from their houses, simply for being queer. The FBI kept lists of known homosexuals, and kept track of their addresses, causing further discrimination. Very few places openly welcomed gay people, and police raids in gay bars were a common occurrence, with arrests being made frequently. Propaganda films and advertisements were shown showing how dangerous gay men are, and if you were engaging in sexual intercourse with the same sex, you would be found out and you would have to face consequences. In the 1960’s Gay men were put into mental institutions to “cure” their “sickness.” They were given electric shock treatments while being shown pictures of naked men, to make sure they never felt arousal to their own sex, as well as sometimes even being lobotomized, sterilised, and castrated. Between 19, thousands of people were discharged from the army, 420 were fired from government jobs, and 1,700 federal job applications were denied of people who were suspected homosexuals. However, black rights were protected under constitutional amendments, There was a feeling that the public could have say in how the police and the government were treating its people, and this served as a catalyst for the Stonewall Riots. In the late 1960’s many social groups were active, such as the African American Civil Rights Movement, the counterculture of the 60’s, and Vietnam anti-war demonstrations. Discrimination had become the status quo in America, where people could simply be arrested for being themselves and expressing themselves, and finally, they had had enough. However, on June 28 th, things went differently. Gay men and lesbians just wanted a place to congregate, and be together in an accepting environment. Realizing that the gay community wanted a place to gather, the Mafia created the Stonewall Inn, were they sold alcohol for double the price, and watered down.
If any bar had even one known homosexual in it, it would be considered disorderly, resulting in bars not allowing gay people in. If women did not have at least 3 feminine items of clothes, they were arrested. If they didn’t have identification, or the men were dressed in drag, they were arrested. Raids at the Stonewall Inn usually went along these lines: people in the bar were lined up, and made to show their identification. The act of homosexual sex could merit 20 years in prison. The Stonewall Inn was a gathering place for gays, lesbians, and drag queens, and when police raids occurred, men could simply be arrested for dancing with other men, and men could be arrested for wearing women clothes.
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There were a series of spontaneous protests and demonstrations by members of the LGBT community against numerous police raids. The Stonewall Riots happened on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, NY.