Stonewall

5th May 2016 Mark Ward

Stonewall Bar 1969 07-02-69.

Disturbance on Sheridan Square, NYC. Scenes at Christopher St. and 7th Ave. South with police trying to clear crowds.

Pictured, Stonewall Inn which was raided one day last week.(Larry Morris/The New York Times)

The Stonewall Riots

1969, 28th June

Just after 3 a.m., a police raid of the Stonewall Inn–a gay club located on New York City’s Christopher Street–turns violent as patrons and local sympathizers begin rioting against the police.

Although the police were legally justified in raiding the club, which was serving liquor without a license among other violations, New York’s gay community had grown weary of the police department targeting gay clubs, a majority of which had already been closed.

The crowd on the street watched quietly as Stonewall’s employees were arrested, but when three drag queens and a lesbian were forced into the paddy wagon, the crowd began throwing bottles at the police. The officers were forced to take shelter inside the establishment, and two policemen were slightly injured before reinforcements arrived to disperse the mob. The protest, however, spilled over into the neighbouring streets, and order was not restored until the deployment of New York’s riot police.

The so-called Stonewall Riot was followed by several days of demonstrations in New York and was the impetus for the formation of the Gay Liberation Front as well as other gay, lesbian, and bisexual civil rights organizations. It is also regarded by many as history’s first major protest on behalf of equal rights for homosexuals.

Members of YAWF (Youth Against War & Fascism) carry a banner in the Fifth Annual Gay Pride Day march (Gay Liberation Day),

New York, June 30, 1974.

It reads ‘Stonewall Means… Fight Back! Smash Gay Oppression!’

(Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images)

www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/people-hold-gay-pride-and-mattchine-signs-during-the-first-news-photo/83648126

Uploaded on 12 Apr 2010

http://firstrunfeatures.com/stonewall… Filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner explore the dramatic 1969 police raid on the Stonewall Inn that gave birth to the modern gay rights movement

Stonewall Official Trailer 1 (2015) – Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ron Perlman Movie HD

Stonewall’s History

Stonewall was founded in 1989 by a small group of people who had been active in the struggle against Section 28 of the Local Government Act.

Section 28

Section 28 was an offensive piece of legislation designed to prevent the so-called ‘promotion’ of homosexuality in schools; as well as stigmatising lesbian, gay and bi people it galvanised the LGBT community.

The aim from the outset was to create a professional lobbying group that would prevent such attacks on lesbians, gay and bi people from ever occurring again. Stonewall has subsequently put the case for equality on the mainstream political agenda by winning support within all the main political parties and now has offices in England, Scotland and Wales.

Campaigning and lobbying

Stonewall is renowned for its campaigning and lobbying. Some major successes include helping achieve the equalisation of the age of consent, lifting the ban on LGB people serving in the military, securing legislation which allowed same-sex couples to adopt and the repeal of Section 28. More recently Stonewall has helped secure civil partnerships and then same-sex marriage, and ensured that the recent Equality Act protected lesbian, gay and bi people in terms of goods and services.

Trans equality

In 2015, and following a six month consultation with trans communities, Stonewall became trans inclusive. You can learn more about Stonewall and trans by reading our report ‘Trans People and Stonewall’.

Charitable status

On 23 September 2003 we were granted charitable status (Charity Registration Number 1101255).

Stonewall receives no core government funding and funds are instead raised in a variety of ways including donations, sponsorship and fundraising events.

Stonewall is a member of the Equality and Diversity Forum, a network of national organisations committed to progress on age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief and sexual orientation issues.

*Haemosexual would like to send a huge “thank you” to Louise and the entire team at Stonewall, for there fantastic work, along with kindly giving permission to use this information and kind words of support.

The Stonewall publications below provide factual data recorded from within the LGBT community, information for those who are trying to find their way and examples of how people with disabilities from the LGBT community face discrimination and neglect.

Please visit Stonewall’s website for many more publications, research and support.