By Sirena Backham
The Stonewall Riots are known as what first sparked the gay rights movement. Stonewall Inn was a gay club that was a place of gathering for LGBT people in Greenwich Village, NYC. Gay clubs were often targeted by police in NYC, but police used legal justification to say that Stonewall did not have a license for alcohol. Although they used this excuse, they arrested any people who were not wearing at least 3 articles of “gender appropriate clothing”. When the police began to load people into the police van, the people outside took action. They began to throw bottles and things at the police. Marsha P. Johnson is known as the person who threw the first brick. She was an LGBT trans rights activist, who was on the front lines along with Sylvia Rivera. The officers had to take shelter inside of the club, which created a large crowd of aggressive people. A group of 400 people were outside of Stonewall, anticipating and joining in to break down the barricade made by the officers inside. A large altercation broke out, resulting in Stonewall being set on fire. For several nights after the initial riot, many more protests broke out and acted as a catalyst for LGBT advocacy groups to be built in almost every major city in America. Stonewall may not have been the first time the LGBT community reacted to police brutality, nor the first time riots and protests broke out, but we take Stonewall as what sparked the official LGBT Liberation movement. Prior to 1969, we but also give credit to the rioters that who took action years before Stonewall, that built up Stonewall to be as strong as a movement as it was. During this time, there were also other movements happening that created an anger for police, such as the civil rights movement, and the anti-Vietnam war movement. Marsha P. Johnson said that the “P” stands for “pay it no mind”; a rhetorical answer to people who are meaning to find out if she was male or female. Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were best friends. Together they formed the first trans-rights organization called STAR (Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries) in 1970, the year after Stonewall happened. STAR focused on getting young transgender people off of the street and into a safe living community. Marsha also became a part of the Gay Liberation Front. The GLF sought for political protection for citizens based on their sexual orientation from oppressive laws. Sylvia Rivera was alone on the streets starting at age 10. She is often referred to as “The Rosa Parks of the Modern Transgender Movement”. She and Marsha P. Johnson were willing to be arrested, which was very courageous for transgender women of color in 1970.
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AuthorSirena Backham Archives
March 2018
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