‘Homo Nest Raided’

Part Three of the InterstateQ.com Pride Series.

It is the “reason for the season.”

When police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village on June 27 and 28, 1969, I doubt they thought that this time would be any different from any of the other times they successfully raided a gay bar in the city. I doubt they thought their decision would spark an entire community to movement.

In a July 6, 1969 news article entitled “Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees are Stinging Mad,” reporter Jerry Lister of The New York Daily News states:

Last Friday the privacy of the Stonewall was invaded by police from the First Division. It was a raid. They had a warrant. After two years, police said they had been informed that liquor was being served on the premises. Since the Stonewall was without a license, the place was being closed. It was the law.

All hell broke loose when the police entered the Stonewall. The girls instinctively reached for each other. Others stood frozen, locked in an embrace of fear.

Only a handful of police were on hand for the initial landing in the homosexual beachhead. They ushered the patrons out onto Christopher Street, just off Sheridan Square. A crowd had formed in front of the Stonewall and the customers were greeted with cheers of encouragement from the gallery.

[…]

Official reports listed four injured policemen with 13 arrests. The War of the Roses lasted about 2 hours from about midnight to 2 a.m. There was a return bout Wednesday night.

Two veterans recently recalled the battle and issued a warning to the cops. “If they close up all the gay joints in this area, there is going to be all out war.”

In those times, it was still illegal in many places to serve alcohol to a homosexual. That was just one of the discriminatory laws that the Mattachine Society fought against in the 1950s.

Another site also states:

In 1969 it was illegal for men to dance with men, although women could dance with women. To gay teenagers, The Stonewall Inn was a favorite place of refuge, a site where they could dance with whomever they wanted and could choose whatever music they wished. At the same time, however, the Mafia-owned and operated bars in the city were places where possible violence was always present. Gay bars were seedy and the drinks were watered . But, at least, they were there.

But raids on gay bars in New York City weren’t all that rare. Many thought the raid on the Stonewall was no different from any of the other times the police simply wanted to round up a bunch of queers, folks they considered to be breaking the law just for holding hands or being near their boyfriend or girlfriend.

According to Wikipedia (src):

Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine, who led the raid on the bar that first night, claims that he was ordered to close the Stonewall Inn because it was the central location for gathering information on gay men who worked on Wall Street. A recent increase in the number of thefts from brokerage houses on Wall Street led police to suspect that gay men, forced by blackmail, were behind the thefts. (Carter 262)

The Wikipedia article also gives some other interesting facts, such as the fact that transgender individuals and gender-nonconformists (like butch women or effeminate men) were highly targeted that night. Some of them were dragged into the bar and beaten. One rioter was severely beaten.

By the end of the night the total number of rioters had grown to 2000, fighting with over 400 police officers. The early morning riot of June 28th soon calmed down, but riots broke out the next night and gatherings in the Village continued for weeks.

Every June we celebrate the time when LGBT people first stood up in large, vocal numbers for their rights and against police and government oppression.

As one site states:

Since 1969 it has been an uphill struggle for gays to be accorded the rights of other citizens. Before The Stonewall, there were other brave gay, lesbian, and transgenders who courageously fought the system, making in-roads here and there. However, the Stonewall rebellion made the public, and more importantly “us,” realize that we are a people, that we must demand our rights as American citizens and as human beings. At long last we symbolically had achieved “minority status.”

This post is a part of InterstateQ.com Pride Series, exploring the history of the pre-Stonewall and modern LGBT Rights Movement and celebrating Pride Month in June 2007.

Previous Pride Series Posts

• Part II - Oppression Before Stonewall
• Part I - A Few Good Men (and Women)

Posted in Pride Series |