Essay On Stonewall Riots

The Rodney King Riot happened in Los Angeles in the year of 1992. Rodney King was an African American male who was arrested on charges because of speeding, drunk driving, and refusing to stop his vehicle. Four police officers who have claimed to have witnessed King’s actions such as being high on drugs and was trying to attack them explains why they did what they did. A resident nearby by the name of George Holliday captured about 12 minutes of the attack on film. King was tasered, brutally beaten with side-handled batons, then forced to the ground to lie still which was where he was handcuffed.

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

On June 28, 1969,a raid took place. The Stonewall Inn was a popular gay bar and the police arrived at about 2 AM. They instructed the patrons to leave the bar, arresting many people for illegal cross-dressing. Police beat some of the people inside the bar which is what began the riot. Raids on gay bars were common but this was the first to insight this size of a riot.

A year later the same day was when the christopher street day liberation march was held. Stone wall was known heavily by the police because they were always down there arresting the queers and fine the establishment. The raiding officers were sometimes rough which turned into making police brutality a common occurrence especially at bars around the country. A raid on june 28 1969 sent fairies, drag queens, trans people and gender nonconforming people on a standoff that lasted 3 days and this is how it became known as the stonewall riots. Months after the riot it sparked a major turning point for the gay rights movement Howard participated in the march as well and Howard also a year later organized the christopher street liberation day march to mark the stonewall riots first anniversary.

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.

The forefathers of the United States built this country on the ideals of freedom and equality for all people. Unfortunately, the fight for equality and freedom did not end with the revolutionary war. The fight has continued throughout the decades. Many of these issues were fought in the courtroom. Auburn University created an online Alabama Encyclopedia, there, the following quote stated, “Scottsboro became an international cause celebre that dramatically encapsulated the American south troubled post reconstruction history of legal and extralegal racial violence, the social and political upheaval of the great depression, and the lingering cultural divide between the north and south.”

It all started when John Dudley announced over the loudspeaker during morning announcements, “Carolyn Coefield has lost her red pocketbook. If anyone has found it, please return it to the office.” On cue everyone had stood up and walked out the main door, they had kept walking following the designated path(NCPEDIA). All students had marched from Adkin High School to Queen Street, then to the recreation center on Easy Bright Street(NCPEDIA). Some of the students had been carrying homemade signs that said thing like “Freedom,” “Equal Rights,” and “Education.”(NCPEDIA).

The Atlanta riot was a riot that would have never been thought of. People thought of Atlanta as a place where the color of your skin didn’t have such a huge effect. The state Atlanta was flourishing business and dominated with black figures. W.E.B Du Bois was a huge hit off Atlanta. He was one of the few blacks that were educated.

Martin Luther Kings persuasive and empowering speeches played a huge role in the Civil Rights Movements. Through his peaceful protests and captivating speeches, MLK blew the minds of his followers — they tore down racial barriers, such as ending public segregation, that had been set in stone for decades. It was public figures like him who truly shaped this movement. Another popular public figure, Cesar Chavez, was someone from a different race but had almost the same goal as Martin Luther king, to end discrimination, racism, and exploitation inside America. Though both MLK and Cesar Chavez fought for their rights using none violence tactics, members of the gay community, (LGBT), did the opposite.

In 2015, the Obergefell v. Hodges case ended the “state bans on same-sex marriage”, therefore legalizing same-sex marriage (Important Supreme Court Cases). Now, “same-sex couples can now receive the benefits...of marriage that were largely exclusive to heterosexual couples” (Koch). The ruling has led to the modern fight for gay civil rights. Exposure to the LGBTQ+ community, the southern “Bathroom Bills”, and other fights for transgender rights, and the press for more LGBTQ+ representation in the media has erupted from this case. Both rulings had very big impacts on their respective communities.

In Mark Bauerlein’s, Negrophobia: A Race Riot in Atlanta, 1906, the political and social events leading to the riot are analyzed. The center of events took place around and inside Atlanta in the early 1900’s. The riot broke out on the evening of September 22, 1906. Prior to the riot in 1906, elections were being held for a new Georgia governor. Bauerlein organizes his book in chronological order to effectively recount the events that led to the riot.

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".