Before becoming an established LGBT community, people in these sector fought a long way in order to give themselves an identity and a space on society. During the 1950’s wherein the LGBT community weren’t brave enough to voice out there concern, they were only called as “third gender”. A lot of social movements like African-American Civil Rights Movement, Counterculture of the 1960s and Opposition to United States involvement to Vietnam war occurred during the 1960’s which made the LGBT community to fight their own call to end discrimination. The Stonewall Riots is the most important event of the gay community in fighting their own rights which led to a massive gay liberation movement. It was held on June 28, 1969 in Stonewall Inn at Greenwich Village at Manhattan City, New York. Stonewall Inn is owned by Mafia and it provided a home of drag queens, transgenders, effeminate young men, butch lesbians, male prostitutes and homeless youth. It was considered as the most poor and marginalized people in the gay community. A year after of a series of demonstrations and riots, it was June 28, 1970 when the first Gay Pride March was held in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. In today’s society, a lot has changed in terms of representing the LGBT and I believe that their community has now a solid foundation. But, it does not stop there. We still call to end discrimination, abuses and violence to the LGBT people. Discrimination and non acceptance of the LGBT is still
The Stonewall Riots are a perfect example of a group of people being stigmatized and persecuted for being outside of what's considered normal. It is an iconic example of discrimination and persecution of the LGBT community in America. Not many establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1960’s. The businesses that did accept them tended to be gay bars. One place in particular that did so was The Stonewall Inn in New York City.
Before Stonewall and the article of Chauncey are related because both share the same topic that is the homosexuality. Both explain the unleashing of the struggle for the rights of the homosexual minority of that time. This minority struggled to change the international perceptibility, to change the system and to get society to accept them because they were oppressed hiding their sexual preference. For example, they had different codes to hide their sexual preferences when they were in front of other people and they questioned from the inside because they were
“A group of people decided they’d had enough. They took a stand and in doing so began the New York Gay Activist movement. Which eventually spread to other parts of the country…. I very much doubt they know the impact of their decision to stand firm that day in 1969, but it’s because of those people that gay rights exist in this country today,” Lynley Wayne, LGBT Writer. Everyday people are trying to stand up for themselves.
The stonewall riots had a moderate impact on the political and social landscape of America. Historical evidence exhibits that although the stonewall uprising did not change the trajectory of gay rights, it acted as a catalyst for de-stigmatization of LGBTQ+ members. The Stonewall uprising was a 6 day political protest and riot in response to the highly restrictive laws and policies promoting homophobia within America. With politicians and laws promoting homophobia within America from 1950 to 1969, systematic oppression forced queer persons to the outskirts of society. Subsequently, underground organizations became affiliated with queer communities to provide spaces to be openly gay.
HISTORY. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2017) The LGBT community was swept under the rug, kept secret, but then, they burst into our consciousness and have been working for equality and freedom since. Gays were very oppressed, and were under unfair laws, mostly that their entire existence was illegal.
The feminist movement and the gay rights movement are two communities that have been fighting for their rights for a long time and are similar in many ways, yet different in many others. While they are both social movements, the feminist movement’s main focus is on women’s rights, while the gay rights movement’s main focus is on gay rights. Similar to each other or not, the two movements could (and do) benefit from each other. Both women and gay people have faced discrimination due to being seen as lesser in the eyes of society. However, the reasons for this discrimination they face/have faced are very different.
Shortly after midnight on June 28, 1969, police raided Stonewall Inn, a gay club in New York City. The patrons of the bar fought back against the police, leading to violent clashes and destruction of property in the surrounding area. This drastic act drew attention to the mistreatment and discrimination faced by the LGBTQ+ community, who was fed up with the longstanding harassment by the law enforcement. Even though the initial conflict began in the Stonewall Inn, neighbors joined the protests after witnessing the fights against the police, which heavily involved property destruction. In these protests, the destruction of property was an act that demonstrated the deep grievances of the LGBTQ+ community who felt anger and frustration towards their constant mistreatment.
This private club/bar brought in many gay men, which granted them a space to be themselves through dancing and “cross-dressing” (Gay Liberation and Pride). However, at the time, homosexuality was very much illegal and widely stigmatized, so routine police checks were administered almost every night at this club, where the men and women would quietly leave, without causing any uprising. However, June 28th, 1969, was the night when they decided that “enough was enough,” and with that, the people in the club fought back, throwing objects such as bottles and refusing to comply with their orders by lighting small fires. These riots continued for numerous nights but led to an unimaginable LGBTQ+ rights movement, which supported and backed up the event’s occurrence. This event served as a huge turning point for equality and a demand for recognition and respect for their
While other may say that the continuous bashing of the LGBT+ community was where the spark for revolution began, the real fight began at Stonewall because it’s lasting legacy is the most well known for fueling the ignited flames of the community. Reflecting back on 1969, citizens of the U.S. can truly see how much the current times have changed. Living in San Francisco, pride is a large festival attended by almost a million people every year. The crowd includes the entire spectrum of the LGBT+ society, as well as allies. Festivals elsewhere have thousands show up to celebrate their pride in being who they are, which was something the people in 1969 could only dream of doing.
The civil disobedience is to describe when the public refusal to obey the law or commands of a government that violate one's personal principals without the act of violence, as an effort to induce a change in governmental policy or legislation. The purpose is to force concessions from the government or occupying power. For example, if a group of people refuses to pay taxes as a peaceful way to express disapproval of those laws they disagree with or taxes. Civil disobedience may be appropriate when a democratically elected government uses its power to discriminate against their race, sex, religion or skin color. In such a situation, people would most liking object the Laws and start a protest to show they want to be treated equally.
A brochure for “Reminder Day” expressed that homosexuals were often not treated as equals and that the Federal, state and local governments have shown bias towards these individuals. Although some religions would perceive homosexuality as a sin, the individuals are still human and should be given the same opportunities as the rest of the population. In the past, the Declaration of Independence promised natural rights for all men, but some rights were not realized for minority groups. Over time, parts of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were revoked and amended so that in today’s world, all “men”, including women and minority groups, all have the same rights.
Johnson’s “shot glass heard round the world” is rumored to have been one of the many simultaneous catalysts that sparked the historic Stonewall riots. The Stonewall riots proved to be a defining event for the LGBT community and is credited with kick-starting the gay liberation movement. Within a couple of years of the Stonewall riots, organizations that fought for gay rights could be found in most major cities in the United States. In the 1950’s and 1960’s,
In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education declared “‘in the field of public education the doctrine of “separate but equal” has no place’” (Important Supreme Court Cases). This started the desegregation of public schools, leading to busing, Brown v. Board of Education II, and other arguments about desegregation. The case “served as a catalyst for the modern civil rights movement, inspiring education reform everywhere and forming the legal means of challenging segregation in all areas of society” (Brown v. Board of Education). The gay rights movement also had a big victory very recently.
THE STONEWALL RIOTS The Stonewall riots are widely believed to be the single most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States. Considered by some to be the "Rosa Parks" moment of the gay rights movement in America, the riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York, in the early hours of June 28th, 1969. This single event has left a resounding impact on the fight for LGBT rights that can still be seen today. Throughout the 50s and 60s in the United States, the FBI along with local police departments kept close watch on what they believed to be "homosexual activity".
Religion seems to play an important and controversial role between issues that involve the LGBTQ society. Before American Democracy can answer any of these questions, a line needs to be drawn between politics and