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How the Stonewall Riots Sparked a Movement | History (Youtube)…
How the Stonewall Riots Sparked a Movement | History (Youtube)
Billy Porter Gives A Brief History of Queer Political Action | them. (Youtube)
The Gay Rights Resistance Movement-2
Originally, sodomy laws were part of a larger body of law – derived from church law – designed to prevent nonprocreative sexuality anywhere, and any sexuality outside of marriage.
Eventually, sodomy laws began to focus primarily on the gay community. The laws were used to justify firing gay people, denying gay couples housing, and refusing to let gays serve in the military. In 1961, Illinois became the first state to get away with its anti-sodomy laws, effectively decriminalizing homosexuality, and a local TV station in California aired the first documentary about homosexuality, called “The Rejected.”
Despite this progress, LGBT individuals lived in a kind of urban subculture and 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.”
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 1966, members of the Mattachine Society in New York City staged a “sip-in”a twist on the “sit-in” protests of the 1960sin which they visited taverns, declared themselves gay, and waited to be turned away so they could sue. They were denied service at the Greenwich Village tavern Julius, resulting in much publicity and the quick reversal of the anti-gay liquor laws.
The late-1960s witnessed the beginnings of the gay liberation movement, including landmark events such as the founding of the earliest documented gay student organization, the Student Homophile League at Columbia University; the publication of the Advocate magazine; and of course, the transformative Stonewall Riots in New York City on June 27, 1969, the now-famous event catalyzed the gay rights movement. A massive upsurge in LGBTQ activism after the Stonewall riots contributed to more substantial legal reforms in the 1970s and 1980s.
After reading the “Gay Rights Resistance Movement” page and after watching the two YouTube videos: “How the Stonewall Riots Sparked a Movement | History” and “Billy Porter Gives A Brief History of Queer Political Action,” Please list three historical facts or events that were mentioned.
