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Stonewall History
To kick off the beginning of Pride Month, I thought I’d share my favorite articles about the Stonewall Riots.
The first is actually a collation of several accounts from 1969 that describe the events of those nights, compiled and edited by Stonewall historian David Carter. Clicking this link will download it as a word doc. This collation goes into a lot of detail, and Carter attempts to resolve some of the apparent inconsistencies between accounts (see the footnotes). While it takes a decent amount of time to read through, I think it’s worth it for the thorough coverage of the initial riot and following nights.
The texts document how the raid on Stonewall–the second within a week–came after a series of raids and closures of gay bars during the past several weeks. Bars such as the Stonewall were targeted by the police for operating without a license, which the State Liquor Authority denied to establishments that catered to gay clientele. After confiscating cases of liquor, the police began arresting the management and some employees, and checking patrons for IDs and (as I understand it) gender-suitable attire. As patrons were released one by one, a crowd began to gather outside, which became more defiant after a police van showed up and employees and drag queens were loaded inside. Multiple reports cite a butch lesbian resisting arrest as a turning point in the mood of the crowd. The police vehicles left to take away those who’d been arrested, leaving the police at the bar unguarded. More objects began to be thrown and the police that remained retreated to the bar and barricaded inside. Windows were smashed, a fire was started inside the bar, and the door was forced open–reports say that a parking meter was used as a battering ram. Police had begun pointing guns at the crowd from the open door by the time backup arrived, at which point the crowds were dispersed.
The second article is called “Movements and Memory: The Making of the Stonewall Myth” by Elizabeth A Armstrong and Suzanna M Crage. This is an academic article that analyzes how Stonewall came to achieve a central place in gay collective memory. (Try not to be put off by the first few pages that deal with theoretical concepts and research design.) It looks at other events that failed to gain similar annual commemoration–the San Francisco New Year’s Ball Raid (January 1965), the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot (San Francisco, August 1966), the Black Cat Raid (Los Angeles, January 1967), and the Snake Pit Bar Raid (New York, Mary 1970)–and discusses how Stonewall came to be successfully recognized as worthy of annual, national, public commemoration. The authors reveal that this was not a spontaneous occurrence, but “spread through the numerous, deliberate activities of individuals and groups.”
Reading these gave me a better understanding of what occurred at Stonewall and how we came to celebrated Pride, so I wanted to share them with anyone else who might be interested.