It was June 27th, 1969...while celebrating our future please remember our past

[WillParkinson]

Anniversary

It was June 27th, 1969.

That was the day that the queers of New York City finally said "Enough!" For some historical perspective, I'm posting the story that the New York Daily News ran about the Stonewall Riots. Note how the reports drips with condescension and ridicule. We've come a long, long way in 42 years and we've still got some distance to cover, but today we should all offer up a shout, a snap, and a moment of thanks to the people who started us down this road.

HOMO NEST RAIDED - QUEEN BEES ARE STINGING MAD

-by Jerry Lisker, New York Daily News, July 6th 1969

She sat there with her legs crossed, the lashes of her mascara-coated eyes beating like the wings of a hummingbird. She was angry. She was so upset she hadn't bothered to shave. A day old stubble was beginning to push through the pancake makeup. She was a he. A queen of Christopher Street.

Last weekend the queens had turned commandos and stood bra strap to bra strap against an invasion of the helmeted Tactical Patrol Force. The elite police squad had shut down one of their private gay clubs, the Stonewall Inn at 57 Christopher St., in the heart of a three-block homosexual community in Greenwich Village. Queen Power reared its bleached blonde head in revolt. New York City experienced its first homosexual riot. "We may have lost the battle, sweets, but the war is far from over," lisped an unofficial lady-in-waiting from the court of the Queens.

"We've had all we can take from the Gestapo," the spokesman, or spokeswoman, continued. "We're putting our foot down once and for all." The foot wore a spiked heel. According to reports, the Stonewall Inn, a two-story structure with a sand painted brick and opaque glass facade, was a mecca for the homosexual element in the village who wanted nothing but a private little place where they could congregate, drink, dance and do whatever little girls do when they get together.


---

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2011/06/anniversary.html

[pinto]

1. Belatedly, My Lisker -

Here you go. Live with it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leohcvmf8kM

:hi:

[Kurovski]

2. I've never forgotten. And never will.

*knock wood*

K&R

[Kurovski]

3. Here is the PBS American Experience documentary "Stonewall Uprising" in full.

http://video.pbs.org/video/1889649613/

The police officer's words near the end brought unexpected tears. I think you'd have to see it in context of the entire documentary.

[w8liftinglady]

6. Thank you for sharing that..

[Kurovski]

8. It's your history now, woman!

:D :hug:

[mitchtv]

4. I lived to see today

I'm stunned. I hope the younger gays can appreciate what it took to get here.

[William769]

5. Back in the early 80's I wrote a paper on

Gay history in the United States at the university I was attending (UT). I was just about run out of town. Needless to say given the era & the City I was in, I kept a low profile for the remainder of my college years.

I well remember the past.

[joeybee12]

7. KNR...and I gotta note "the homosexual element"

lisped

do what little girls do when they get together.