Comprehensive Study Notes on the Stonewall Uprising and the American LGBTQ+ Rights Movement
The Socio-Medical Landscape of the 1960s
Historical Context: William Eskridge characterizes the as the "dark ages" for lesbians and gay men across America. During this era, homosexuality was overwhelmingly classified by medical authorities as a "mental defect" or a form of "psychopathy."
Psychiatric Perspectives: Dr. Charles Socarides, a psychoanalyst at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, propagated the view that no man is born homosexual. Instead, psychiatrists believed homosexuality formed within the first years of life. Socarides described homosexuality as a "mental illness" that had reached "epidemiological proportions."
Conversion and Aversive Conditioning: Psychiatrists initially attempted to talk patients into heterosexuality. If unsuccessful, they employed "aversive conditioning." This involved showing a gay man pictures of nude males while administering a strong electric current (buzzing). The intended outcome was to make the subject unable to feel sexual arousal in those or other settings.
Medical Brutality and Atascadero State Hospital: Individuals deemed "sexual psychopaths" faced severe medical interventions including sterilization, castration, and lobotomies (damaging the frontal part of the brain). A person subjected to a lobotomy was described by Doric Wilson as a "walking vegetable." The most infamous facility was Atascadero in California, referred to in gay circles as the "Dachau for queers." Experimentation there included "pharmacological waterboarding," where subjects were given a drug that simulated the physical experience of drowning.
Public Opinion: A CBS News public opinion survey indicated that of Americans looked upon homosexuals with "disgust, discomfort, or fear." The survey also revealed that the majority of sentiment was against permitting homosexual relationships between consenting adults without legal punishment.
Systemic Oppression and Legal Frameworks
Legal Bans and Licensing: Gay individuals faced systemic exclusion from professional life. They were barred from receiving or maintaining licenses to practice law or medicine. Even vocational licenses, such as those for beauticians, could be denied or revoked.
New York State Statutes:
- The 1845 Statute: A law originating from the mid- century made "masquerading" a crime. To avoid arrest, an individual’s outfit had to include at least articles of clothing of their assigned gender. Socks did not count toward this requirement.
- Crime Against Nature: At its peak, New York City recorded as many as arrests per year for the "crime against nature."
- Solicitation and Loitering: Between and people were arrested annually for crimes related to solicitation or loitering.
Police Tactics and Harassment:
- Entrapment: Officers often hid behind the walls of urinals in public bathrooms and subways. In some instances, officers wore dresses and makeup to entrap men who might approach them.
- Publicity as Punishment: When individuals were arrested for "lewd" or "immoral" behavior, major newspapers would often publish their full names, ages, and home addresses, effectively ruining their lives.
- Surveillance: Police used telescopic lenses to photograph gay meeting places, such as beaches, often highlighting the presence of youngsters to incite public alarm.
The Pre-Stonewall Gay Social Landscape
The Underground Economy: The New York State Liquor Authority held that the presence of even one "known homosexual" made a licensed premise "disorderly." This led to a vacuum where legitimate business owners refused to serve the community, allowing the Mafia to take over the gay bar industry.
Mafia Influence at the Stonewall Inn: The Mob operated the Stonewall Inn as a "bottle club" without a liquor license. Guests paid a () dollar membership fee to enter. The Mafia owned the jukeboxes and cigarette machines, and the liquor was often hijacked from trucks, watered down, and sold at a 100% profit. Despite being "a toilet" of a bar, it served as a vital refuge where people could dance together.
Internal Community Divisions: In the front of the Stonewall, the "A-gays" (regular gays who did not dress in drag or use feminine pronouns) congregated. The back room, featuring the jukebox, was the domain of drag queens with names like Congo Woman, Mary, Queen of the Scotch, Captain Faggot, and Miss Twiggy.
Alternative Spaces: Gay men also utilized "the trucks"—industrial meat trucks parked in the West Village that reeked of dead produce by day and served as spaces for sexual encounters by night. These areas were frequently raided by police, whom the community nicknamed "Lily Law," "Patty Pig," or "Betty Badge."
The Night of the Stonewall Uprising: June 28, 1969
The Catalyst: The raid on the morning of Saturday, June 28, was highly unusual because it occurred during a weekend peak with a full crowd. The police department, led by Seymour Pine, arrived with approximately officers. Unlike previous raids, the patrons refused to disperse, stating, "We're not going."
Violence and Resistance: As an unidentified "tough lesbian" fought back against arresting officers outside the bar, the crowd’s anger peaked. Protesters began throwing pennies at the police, mockingly calling them "coppers" to signal their perceived worth. The police eventually retreated inside the bar for safety and barricaded themselves in.
The Siege: Protesters used a parking meter pulled from the sidewalk as a battering ram against the doors. Lighter fluid was used to set small fires against the plywood windows. Inside, Seymour Pine ordered his men: "Don't fire until I fire," warning that anyone who fired prematurely would be reassigned to a lonely beat on Staten Island for the rest of their career.
The Phalanx and the Hydra: The Tactical Patrol Force (TPF) arrived in riot gear with shields and billy clubs, forming a Roman-style phalanx to clear Christopher Street. However, the protesters used the unique geography of the Village to their advantage, running around the small blocks and re-emerging behind the police line, a tactic Martin Boyce compared to a "Hydra."
The Kick Line Performative Protest: A group of drag queens formed a Rockettes-style kick line in front of the riot squad, singing: "We are the Village girls, we wear our hair in curls, we wear our dungarees above our nellie knees." This direct defiance resulted in many protesters being beaten with clubs.
Evolution of the Movement and the First Pride
From Mattachine to Radicalism: Before Stonewall, the homophile movement was led by organizations like the Mattachine Society (led by Dick Leitsch) and the Daughters of Bilitis. They advocated for integration, requiring protesters to wear suits and ties at demonstrations (such as those at Independence Hall in Philadelphia). Post-Stonewall, a more radicalised "Gay Power" sentiment emerged.
Visibility: Craig Rodwell founded the Oscar Wilde Bookshop, which provided gay-positive materials. Despite facing vandalism and threats, it represented a shift toward being "out."
Christopher Street Liberation Day: On the anniversary of the uprising in June , the first gay pride march took place. It began with approximately to people at Christopher Street and Sixth Avenue. Participants were initially terrified of violence, but by the time the march reached Central Park, the number had grown to approximately people.
Historical Legacy: Virginia Apuzzo notes that the uprising was a fundamentally American act of demanding the delivery of promised equality. The event transformed isolated individuals into "a people," establishing a sense of community and brotherhood that had not existed in the fragmented underground of 42nd Street and subway tea rooms.