“When half a dozen police officers raided a Mafia-run gay bar on a hot New York night 50 years ago, little did they know their actions would spark a movement that reshaped the lives of generations to come.
About 200 customers - lesbians, gay men, transgender people, runaway teenagers and drag queens - were thrown out on to Christopher Street. A crowd turned on the officers who retreated inside for their safety. Gay people were used to running from the police, but this time they were the ones on the advance and the men in uniform on the retreat.
The gay rights movement didn't start that night but it was invigorated by what happened in the hours and days after the first coin was thrown. And all the strides made since, like marriage equality and a more accepting society, owe something to the youths who fought the police and the activists who organised afterwards.
Stonewall has been described as the Rosa Parks moment for gay rights. And just as Ms Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a bus in Alabama to a white man had the effect of animating the civil rights movement 14 years before, so Stonewall electrified the push for gay equality.”
As you can imagine, this was a day in history! It is considered to be the most important event leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States... and the rest of the world too! It was the spark that ignited fifty years of fervent change for a community that, throughout history, has been marginalized, referred to as outlaws, living in secrecy and fear. People that were labelled insane by doctors, immoral by religious leaders, unemployable by the government, predatory by TV broadcasts and criminal by police, just because what made them happy wasn’t considered “normal and appropriate” by society.
“The next time someone asks you why LGBT Pride marches exist or why Gay Pride Month is June tell them ‘A bisexual woman named Brenda Howard thought it should be.’” – Brenda Howard, known as the “Mother of Pride.” She was instrumental in organizing the first ever Pride marches: events that have become a vital part of the fight for acceptance. Howard was also one of the few activists to focus on rights for those who identified as bisexual or polyamorous: two groups that are often underrepresented in LGBTQ activism.
But we’ll get there in a minute… First, I’d like to unveil some stories and facts that happened in a distant past!
If ancient history is not of interest to you, you can skip to the next big sentence!
Most historians agree that there is evidence of homosexual activity and same-sex love, whether such relationships were accepted or persecuted, in every documented culture. We know that homosexuality existed in ancient Israel simply because it is prohibited in the Bible. Substantial evidence also exists for individuals who lived at least part of their lives as a different gender than assigned at birth. From the lyrics of same-sex desire inscribed by Sappho in the 7th century BCE to youths raised as the opposite sex in cultures ranging from Albania to Afghanistan; from the “female husbands” of Kenya to the Native American “Two-Spirit”, alternatives to the Western male-female and heterosexual binaries thrived across millennia and culture.
“Love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters?” – James Baldwin
One can’t be so naive and presume that same-sex love wasn’t already a thing in ancient societies! In fact, in Egypt, two male royal manicurists named Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep were found buried together in a shared tomb similar to the way married couples were often buried. Their epigraph reads: ‘Joined in life and joined in death’. Having lived in 2400 BC, they are believed to be history’s oldest recorded gay couple. Isn’t it romantic?! I don’t know about you, but being in an eternal rest alongside the love of my life seems ideal to me (preferably after a happy long life, of course XD).
Some historical gay and bi figures have turned their lovers into gods. For example, Alexander the Great wanted to make his boyhood lover Hephaestion a god when he died, but was only allowed to declare him a Divine Hero.There’s also the Roman Emperor Hadrian, of wall-building fame, who was successful in making his lover, Antinous, a god after he drowned in the Nile (I guess this last one was luckier, huh?!).
Now something that will probably shock you!... Did you know that the church sanctified gay marriages in the so-called Dark Ages?! Because I didn’t... But it’s true (you should have seen my face in the moment I read about this… I felt like I’ve been lied to my entire life... or my almost-18 years of existence XD)! You can read more about it for yourself (use the link in the last sentence, if you want), as for an example, there’s the Byzantine Emperor Basil I (867-886) and his partner John, but I recommend you to search about them too, this emperors life resembles a mexican soap opera from so much drama!
Uganda also had a gay governant. King Mwanga II, who reigned from 1884 to 1888, is widely reported to have had affairs with his male servants. Now that we’re talking about this, did you know that, resembling to those previous examples, the US has apparently already had a gay president, James Buchanan?! He shacked up for 10 years with a future VP, William Rufus King, and was referred to by President Andrew Jackson as ‘Miss Nancy’ and ‘Aunt Fancy’! And lastly, there’s Barbara Jordan, the first African American to be elected in Texas in 1973 (she might not have been as important as the last examples, but I felt like she deserved to be mentioned). She was a woman, a Democrat, and also gay! She later became the first black woman to give the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
“The Lord is my Shepherd and he knows I’m gay.” – Troy Perry
Focusing now in literature, in a creation myth by Aristophanes, there were three sexes: those with two male heads (which were descended from the sun), those with two female heads (from the earth) and those with a male and a female head (descended from the moon). Displeased with them, Zeus crippled them by chopping them in half. Since that day, according to the story, we are looking for the other half to create our whole. This is known as the Origin of Love (so cute!).
(Totally out of context, but while I was writing this I realised that I probably already spent all my exclamation points, and we’re only half-done with this post!... sorry XD)
Now, now, don’t worry, this is the last historical fact so bear with me a little bit more (guess I got too excited with this part of the post, sorry)! Were you aware that the Virginia Court in 1629 recorded the first gender ambiguity among the American colonists? Well, it seems that a servant named Thomas(ine) Hall was officially declared by the governor to be both ‘a man and a woman’. To stop everyone else from being confused, Hall was ordered to wear articles of each sex’s clothing every day.
Where European dress, a clear marker of gender, was enforced by missionaries, we find another complicated history of both gender identity and resistance. Biblical interpretation made it illegal for a woman to wear pants or a man to adopt a female dress, and sensationalized public trials warned against “deviants” but also made such martyrs and heroes popular: Joan of Arc is one example. Despite the risks of defying severe legal codes, cross-dressing flourished in early modern Europe and America. Women and girls, economically oppressed by the sexism which kept them from jobs and economic/education opportunities designated for men only, might pass as male in order to gain access to coveted experiences or income. This was a choice made by many women who were not necessarily transgender in identity. Women “disguised” themselves as men, sometimes for extended periods of years, in order to fight in the military (for example, Deborah Sampson), to work as pirates (Mary Read and Anne Bonney!), attend medical school, etc. Both men and women who lived as a different gender were often only discovered after their deaths, as the extreme differences in male vs. female clothing and grooming in much of Western culture made “passing” surprisingly easy in certain environments.
Moreover, roles in the arts where women were banned from working required men to be recruited to play female roles, often creating a high-status, competitive market for those we might today identify as trans women. This acceptance of performance artists, and the popularity of “drag” humor cross-culturally, did not necessarily mark the start of transgender advocacy, but made the arts an often accepting sanctuary for LGBT individuals who built theatrical careers based around disguise and illusion.
Fun fact: the first celebrity to come out as openly gay was an actor, Billy Haines, who came out in 1933.
What?! Too long? I had to make a good conclusion!
“Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.” – Barbara Gittings
But to shake your thoughts a little bit more (or for you, who didn’t read anything above)… Did you know that Playboy, which has been loved by straight men for decades, actually built it’s reputation with a gay short story?! Hugh Hefner was the only one to accept a science fiction story about heterosexuals being the minority against homosexuals in 1955. When letters poured in, he said: “If it was wrong to persecute heterosexuals in a homosexual society, then the reverse was wrong too”(I love this guy XD!).
Now, back to the mid-20th century, in 1952, the movement for LGBT rights also faced some notable setbacks: the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality as a form of mental disorder. And in the following year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed an executive order that banned gay people or, more specifically, people guilty of “sexual perversion”—from federal jobs, a ban that would remain in effect for about 20 years.
LGBT individuals were routinely subjected to harassment and persecution, such as in bars and restaurants. In fact, gay men and women in New York City could not be served alcohol in public due to liquor laws that considered the gathering of homosexuals to be “disorderly” (can you believe it?!). In fear of being shut down by authorities, bartenders would deny drinks to patrons suspected of being gay or kick them out altogether; others would serve them drinks but force them to sit facing away from other customers to prevent them from socializing.
In 1970, at the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, New York City community members marched through local streets in commemoration of the event. Named the Christopher Street Liberation Day, the march is now considered the country’s first gay pride parade. Activists also turned the once-disreputable Pink Triangle into a symbol of gay pride.
Quick note: before the pink triangle became a worldwide symbol of gay power and pride, it was intended as a badge of shame. In Nazi Germany, a downward-pointing pink triangle was sewn onto the shirts of gay men in concentration camps—to identify and further dehumanize them. It wasn’t until the 1970s that activists would reclaim the symbol as one of liberation.
Due to it’s deep meaning, in 2016, President Obama designated the site of the riots—Stonewall Inn, Christopher Park, and the surrounding streets and sidewalks—a national monument in recognition of the area’s contribution to gay and human rights.
That being said, although the Stonewall uprising didn’t start the gay rights movement, it was an inspiring force for LGBT political activism, leading to the foundation of numerous gay rights organizations, including the Gay Liberation Front, Human Rights Campaign (HRC), GLAAD (formerly Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), and PFLAG (formerly Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).
“There will not be a magic day when we wake up and it’s now okay to express ourselves publicly. We make that day by doing things publicly until it’s simply the way things are.” – Tammy Baldwin
Oh, and the current management bought the bar in 2006 and have operated it as the Stonewall Inn ever since. The buildings at 51 and 53 Christopher Street are privately owned, both part of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission's Greenwich Village Historic District, designated in April 1969.
Hope you had fun, bye!
Extra fun fact (the best in the end): The US government considered making a "gay bomb". Scientists figured in 1994 that discharging female sex pheromones over enemy forces would make them sexually attracted to each other (this America of mine XD… sorry, I just couldn’t resist adding this one!).
Sources:
Images:
1.by Joseph Donnelly
2.By Art de l'Antiga Grècia - Attic red-figure plate at display in Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Oxford. J.D. Beazley, Attic Red-figure Vase-painters, 378, 137., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16002372
3.By Sosias (potter, signed). Painting attributed to the Sosias Painter (name piece for Beazley, overriding attribution) or the Kleophrades Painter (Robertson) or Euthymides (Ohly-Dumm) - User:Bibi Saint-Pol, own work, 2008, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3574713
4.By Unknown artist - Jastrow (2006), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=497275
5.By Jon Bodswort-http://www.egyptarchive.co.uk/html/saqqara_tombs/saqqara_tombs_39.html, Copyrighted free use, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4977603
6.By Unknown author - Diebold Schilling, Chronik der Burgunderkriege, Schweizer Bilderchronik, Band 3, um 1483 (Zürich, Zentralbibliothek), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61659
7.By Charles Nicolas Rafael Lafond (1774–1835) - http://www.hampel-auctions.com/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=635567
8. Photograph: Corbis
9.Foto de Sharon McCutcheon no Pexels
11.Photo by Nathana Rebouças on Unsplash
12.Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash
13.Photo by Eduardo Pastor on Unsplash
15.Photo by Elyssa Fahndrich on Unsplash
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