Civil Rights: The Stonewall Riots

The Stonewall Riots were the spark for the LGBTQ+ rights movement, affecting the social and political environments for people of the LGBTQ+ community. It took decades of organized struggle to get the political and social environment for queer people to where it is today. The watershed moment for that struggle was started in the early morning of June 28, 1969

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. The Manhattan bar, accepted all types of people who were not revered highly in society at the time. The Government back then did not have legislation that supported the LGBT community. “Homosexual acts” were decriminalized in all states but one, and those convicted faced fines or jail time. In the 1950’s and 60’s

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.

After nearly one-hundred and fifty years of living in the New World, the colonists were anxious to be separated from their mothering country, England. Thomas Jefferson and other colonists got together to write an official document called the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776 to send to King George III. This document stated how the colonists were being treated unjustly and how independence should be granted to the citizens. The Declaration of Independence promises natural rights for all men, however, some rights such as suffrage, are not realized for some disenfranchised groups.

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 Civil Rights Movement gained traction around the 1950s, paving the way for many other oppressed groups. These groups fought for different rights, but they still had a similar struggle to the original movement. One of these groups is the Gay Rights Movement. The comparison between the black civil rights movement and the gay civil rights movement is “typically a sensitive subject, even among liberals” (Williams). Some people believe that it is unfair to compare a fight for marriage to a fight to gain equality in every aspect. If they step back and see the bigger picture, they could tell that the structures are very similar. The Gay Rights Movement is similar to the black Civil Rights Movement.

There is no law protecting LGBTQQ people from discrimination at work. In certain countries there is a ban for same-sex relations. In some other countries can be fired for being transgender. Because of this they feel the need to keep closeted at work. They feel that if they come out at work that they will be treated differently or even worse fired. 21% of LGBTQQ employees reported workplace discrimination. These things (race religion, sexuaility) should not effect the way people are treated in the workplace. None of theses conditions affects the person's ability to perform a task or work at a job.Much of this discrimination comes from racial views of the country. There are some people that believe that LGBTQQ people are not equal just because they are different. The discrimination that LGBTQQ people receive is not only from their workplace but from the government as

“A group of people decided they’d had enough. They took a stand and in doing so

The current status of the gay rights movement: last month the Supreme Court pass the rule that

However, like gays and lesbians, transgender people have always lived among us. In the United States in particular, they have existed since at least 1952, when Christine Jorgensen became the first American to go through a gender transition (albeit it took place in Denmark, not here). Of course, like their LGB brothers and sisters, they experienced endless discrimination from society and law enforcement. Local LGBT hangouts were regularly raided by the police, and unrest escalated between the two groups until enough was enough. On June 30, 1969, patrons of New York’s Stonewall Inn rose up against the attacking police force and rioted. The Stonewall Riots are said to mark the beginning of the modern LGBT rights movement, and it was largely initiated by transgender women of color. Over the next few decades, legislation would be enacted to aid the cause for equality. By 1977, trans athletes could play on the teams of their gender identities, and by 1993 anti-discrimination laws were extended to transpeople in Minnesota. In the 21st century alone, transpeople were getting invited to the White House, playing in college sports, and serving as judges, all without having to hide who they were (“Milestones in the American Transgender Movement”). Hardships are still all too common, unfortunately, but much progress has been made nonetheless, and the fight continues to this

In his article ‘Movements before Stonewall need to be remembered, too’, Adam Dupuis discusses the fact that while the Stonewall Uprising was an important event in LGBT history, the events before it should not be dismissed as lesser. The author emphasizes the Annual Reminders, seminal protests which took place in Philadelphia every Fourth of July from 1965 to 1969. Not only were the Annual Reminders the first sustained LGBT demonstrations, but they were the first gay rights protests to have members from multiple cities, with forty activists from Washington, D.C., New York, and Pennsylvania participating. However, these events were discontinued upon the occurrence of the Stonewall Riot in 1969, when the organizers of the Reminders made the decision

In The Laramie Project, by Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Company, we read the story of a homosexual hate crime in Laramie, Wyoming told from many different perspectives. Though discriminatory crimes against homosexuals have largely decreased, discriminatory crimes in general do still exist. This includes crimes against certain races, genders, and religions. America has come a long way since the events in The Laramie Project but we still have a long way to go in terms of women’s health and discriminatory crimes.

Did you know that LGBTQ youth are twice as likely as their peers to be kicked, shoved, and physically assaulted? On top of that, 92% of LGBTQ youth hear negative messages about having a different sexuality. They feel unsafe and are physically harmed. This happens to people all over the world, and as horrible as it is, many, many people suffer from it every single day of their lives! I want to bring this to light and tell you about what LGBTQ people have been subjected to throughout time, and what they have to deal with on a day to day basis. I also want to tell you about the people who have had to put up with this and ended up pushing up daisies, another thing I want you to hear is how we can help these people who have to suffer every day.

Nowadays, the homosexual people are coming into public view and are accepted by more and more people. It has attracted much concern to improve and protect their rights, such as the Gay-Right Movement which refers

LGBT/ same-sex marriage is one of the most heated and controversial debates in our current society. Unlike the past thousands of years whereas marriage was defined as a legal union between a man and a woman, now the concept of marriage has been extended to a broader context. “Homosexuality” in most cultures is viewed as a disgrace, and it is often considered as a great sin from a religious aspect. But now our society has evolved, we gained clarity and reasons. We are now able to acknowledge and accept people who are different whereas we use to enslave and discriminate people who were a little different. But still, it seems we have a long way to