Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries . Now, 50 years later, the film is back. [7] In 1987, the film won Emmy Awards for Best Historical/Cultural Program and Best Research. This 1955 educational film warns of homosexuality, calling it "a sickness of the mind.". But I'm wearing this police thing I'm thinking well if they break through I better take it off really quickly but they're gunna come this way and we're going to be backing up and -- who knows what'll happen. It was nonsense, it was nonsense, it was all the people there, that were reacting and opposing what was occurring. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Yes, entrapment did exist, particularly in the subway system, in the bathrooms. In a spontaneous show of support and frustration, the citys gay community rioted for three nights in the streets, an event that is considered the birth of the modern Gay Rights Movement. All kinds of designers, boxers, big museum people. So I run down there. What finally made sense to me was the first time I kissed a woman and I thought, "Oh, this is what it's about." Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was a bottle club which meant that I guess you went to the door and you bought a membership or something for a buck and then you went in and then you could buy drinks. If you would like to read more on the topic, here's a list: Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and NPR One. Well, it was a nightmare for the lesbian or gay man who was arrested and caught up in this juggernaut, but it was also a nightmare for the lesbians or gay men who lived in the closet. The events. Martha Shelley:I don't know if you remember the Joan Baez song, "It isn't nice to block the doorway, it isn't nice to go to jail, there're nicer ways to do it but the nice ways always fail." View in iTunes. Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution Homo, homo was big. And the Village has a lot of people with children and they were offended. The medical experimentation in Atascadero included administering, to gay people, a drug that simulated the experience of drowning; in other words, a pharmacological example of waterboarding. And they were lucky that door was closed, they were very lucky. We went, "Oh my God. It's a history that people feel a huge sense of ownership over. Yvonne Ritter:And then everybody started to throw pennies like, you know, this is what they were, they were nothing but copper, coppers, that's what they were worth. The term like "authority figures" wasn't used back then, there was just "Lily Law," "Patty Pig," "Betty Badge." Jeremiah Hawkins Dick Leitsch:There were Black Panthers and there were anti-war people. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:Those of us that were the street kids we didn't think much about the past or the future. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:I had a column inThe Village Voicethat ran from '66 all the way through '84. I mean, I came out in Central Park and other places. "We're not going.". A person marching in a gay rights parade along New York's Fifth Avenue on July 7th, 1979. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:There were all these articles in likeLife Magazineabout how the Village was liberal and people that were called homosexuals went there. Slate:Perversion for Profit(1965), Citizens for Decency Through Law. He is not interested in, nor capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage. They can be anywhere. It was an age of experimentation. And some people came out, being very dramatic, throwing their arms up in a V, you know, the victory sign. Absolutely, and many people who were not lucky, felt the cops. As kids, we played King Kong. It was tremendous freedom. I was proud. Mafia house beer? We had been threatened bomb threats. The documentary shows how homosexual people enjoyed and shared with each other. And I raised my hand at one point and said, "Let's have a protest march." The film combined personal interviews, snapshots and home movies, together with historical footage. Chris Mara Pamela Gaudiano David Carter That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. And if enough people broke through they would be killed and I would be killed. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:In states like New York, there were a whole basket of crimes that gay people could be charged with. Because he was homosexual. All rights reserved. Danny Garvin:And the cops just charged them. That never happened before. Her most recent film, Bones of Contention, premiered in the 2016 Berlin International Finally, Mayor Lindsay listened to us and he announced that there would be no more police entrapment in New York City. All I knew about was that I heard that there were people down in Times Square who were gay and that's where I went to. Lester Senior Housing Community, Jewish Community Housing Corporation Calling 'em names, telling 'em how good-looking they were, grabbing their butts. Heather Gude, Archival Research Patricia Yusah, Marketing and Communications Eric Marcus has spent years interviewing people who were there that night, as well as those who were pushing for gay rights before Stonewall. And the rest of your life will be a living hell. John O'Brien:Whenever you see the cops, you would run away from them. And, it was, I knew I would go through hell, I would go through fire for that experience. The very idea of being out, it was ludicrous. Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free dramatic stories from the early 1900's onwards of public and private existence as experienced by LGBT Americans. With this outpouring of courage and unity the gay liberation movement had begun. We were going to propose something that all groups could participate in and what we ended up producing was what's now known as the gay pride march. And so we had to create these spaces, mostly in the trucks. Martin Boyce:And then more police came, and it didn't stop. The film brings together voices from over 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement to explore queer activism before, during and after the Stonewall Riots. National Archives and Records Administration We could lose our memory from the beating, we could be in wheelchairs like some were. You needed a license even to be a beautician and that could be either denied or taken away from you. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:There were no instructions except: put them out of business. John O'Brien:If a gay man is caught by the police and is identified as being involved in what they called lewd, immoral behavior, they would have their person's name, their age and many times their home address listed in the major newspapers. The events that took place in June 1969 have been described as the birth of the gay-rights movement, but that's only partially true. Jimmy hadn't enjoyed himself so much in a long time. Scott Kardel, Project Administration Interviewer (Archival):Are you a homosexual? In the Life It was fun to see fags. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:The Stonewall riots came at a central point in history. Maureen Jordan In the sexual area, in psychology, psychiatry. Dr. Socarides (Archival):Homosexuality is in fact a mental illness which has reached epidemiological proportions. Barak Goodman So it was a perfect storm for the police. When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City on June 28, 1969, the street erupted into violent protests that lasted for the next six days. We were scared. John O'Brien Dick Leitsch:And I remember it being a clear evening with a big black sky and the biggest white moon I ever saw. A year earlier, young gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police near a bar called The Stonewall Inn. Raymond Castro:New York City subways, parks, public bathrooms, you name it. Martin Boyce:It was another great step forward in the story of human rights, that's what it was. Historic Films Atascadero was known in gay circles as the Dachau for queers, and appropriately so. ", Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And he went to each man and said it by name. It premiered at the 1984 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United States on June 27, 1985. But I had only stuck my head in once at the Stonewall. Mike Wallace (Archival):Dr. Charles Socarides is a New York psychoanalyst at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. This was ours, here's where the Stonewall was, here's our Mecca. Danny Garvin:With Waverly Street coming in there, West Fourth coming in there, Seventh Avenue coming in there, Christopher Street coming in there, there was no way to contain us. The cops were barricaded inside. And when she grabbed that everybody knew she couldn't do it alone so all the other queens, Congo Woman, queens like that started and they were hitting that door. He may appear normal, and it may be too late when you discover he is mentally ill. John O'Brien:I was a poor, young gay person. Danny Garvin:Everybody would just freeze or clam up. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And I keep listening and listening and listening, hoping I'm gonna hear sirens any minute and I was very freaked. The Underground Lounge They were supposed to be weak men, limp-wristed. Raymond Castro:We were in the back of the room, and the lights went on, so everybody stopped what they were doing, because now the police started coming in, raiding the bar. Danny Garvin:Bam, bam and bash and then an opening and then whoa. Frank Kameny, co-founder of the Mattachine Society, and Shirley Willer, president of the Daughters of Bilitis, spoke to Marcus about being gay before the Stonewall riots happened and what motivated people who were involved in the movement. They were not used to a bunch of drag queens doing a Rockettes kick line and sort of like giving them all the finger in a way. Before Stonewall, the activists wanted to fit into society and not rock the boat. Dick Leitsch:Very often, they would put the cops in dresses, with makeup and they usually weren't very convincing. But we went down to the trucks and there, people would have sex. Frank Kameny John O'Brien:We had no idea we were gonna finish the march. And this went on for hours. Jerry Hoose:I was afraid it was over. There was all these drags queens and these crazy people and everybody was carrying on. Before Stonewall 1984 Directed by Greta Schiller, Robert Rosenberg Synopsis New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. Martin Boyce:I had cousins, ten years older than me, and they had a car sometimes. Marcus spoke with NPR's Ari Shapiro about his conversations with leaders of the gay-rights movement, as well as people who were at Stonewall when the riots broke out. Martin Boyce:We were like a Hydra. At least if you had press, maybe your head wouldn't get busted. Judy Laster WPA Film Library, Thanks to John O'Brien:And then somebody started a fire, they started with little lighters and matches. TV Host (Archival):Ladies and gentlemen, the reason for using first names only forthese very, very charming contestants is that right now each one of them is breaking the law. And Dick Leitsch, who was the head of the Mattachine Society said, "Who's in favor?" Almost anything you could name. That night, we printed a box, we had 5,000. Alfredo del Rio, Archival Still and Motion Images Courtesy of It was first released in 1984 with its American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and its European premiere at the Berlinale, followed by a successful theatrical release in many countries and a national broadcast on PBS. The award winning film Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free the dramatic story of the sometimes horrifying public and private existences experienced by gay and lesbian Americans since the 1920s. Former U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with gay rights activist Frank Kameny after signing a memorandum on federal benefits and non-discrimination in the Oval Office on June 17, 2009. All the rules were off in the '60s. I really thought that, you know, we did it. This produced an enormous amount of anger within the lesbian and gay community in New York City and in other parts of America. Things were just changing. I mean they were making some headway. More than a half-century after its release, " The Queen " serves as a powerful time capsule of queer life as it existed before the 1969 Stonewall uprising. And you felt bad that you were part of this, when you knew they broke the law, but what kind of law was that? Greg Shea, Legal You know, all of a sudden, I had brothers and sisters, you know, which I didn't have before. Because to be gay represented to me either very, super effeminate men or older men who hung out in the upper movie theatres on 42nd Street or in the subway T-rooms, who'd be masturbating. Today, that event is seen as the start of the gay civil rights movement, but gay activists and organizations were standing up to harassment and discrimination years before. And then they send them out in the street and of course they did make arrests, because you know, there's all these guys who cruise around looking for drag queens. This was in front of the police. Eric Marcus, Writer:It was incredibly hot. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world. Because its all right in the Village, but the minute we cross 14th street, if there's only ten of us, God knows what's going to happen to us.". Like, "Joe, if you fire your gun without me saying your name and the words 'fire,' you will be walking a beat on Staten Island all alone on a lonely beach for the rest of your police career. This is every year in New York City. There were occasions where you did see people get night-sticked, or disappear into a group of police and, you know, everybody knew that was not going to have a good end. Transcript Enlarge this image To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, activists rode their motorcycles during the city's 1989 gay-pride parade.
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