THE MOVEMENT HAS EVOLVED OVER THE PAST 50 YEARS.
>> IT’S STONEWALL 50 AND I’M
TRYING TO GET MY -- WRAP MY HEAD
AROUND THAT.
AROUND THAT. IT’S A LITTLE DIFFICULT FOR ALL
OF US WHO HAVE COME THAT LONG
ROAD.
ROAD. AS A YOUNG GAY MAN GROWING UP IN
THE 1960s, YOU DIDN’T KNOW WHO
YOU WERE OR WHAT YOU SEE.
WHATTIA
WHATTIA WHAT YOU KNEW IS PEOPLE DIDN’T
TALK ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE YOU.
I WAS WONDERING WHY WAS I
DIFFERENT THAN EVERYBODY ELSE?
YOU KEPT HEARING RUMORS ABOUT
THESE PEOPLE WHO WERE
DEGENERATES, THESE PEOPLE WHO
WERE IMMORAL.
WERE IMMORAL. THAT WASN’T ME E. I WAS FINE
WITH WHO I WAS.
I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY OTHER
PEOPLE DIDN’T LIKE PEOPLE LIKE
ME.
ME. AND YOU COULDN’T FIND OUT
ANYTHING ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE ME.
THERE WAS NO PEOPLE LIKE ME.
WE WERE INVISIBLE.
FEELING THAT I WAS THE ONLY GAY
PERSON IN PHILADELPHIA IN THE
WORLD BECAUSE THERE WERE NO GAY
PEOPLE IN PHILADELPHIA, I ENDED
UP MOVING TO NEW YORK ON
MAY 10TH, 1969.
WHICH IN A SINCE WAS MY
LIBERATION DAY.
LIBERATION DAY. BEING IN STONEWALL THAT NIGHT
WAS FRIGHTENING FOR ME.
I’D NEVER BEEN IN A RAID.
I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT A RAID WAS.
I HAD NEVER HAD ANY INTERACTION
WITH POLICE BEFORE.
WHEN THEY CAME BARGING INTO THE
BAR I WAS SHOCKED AT THE
BEHAVIOR I SAW.
THEY WERE BANGING PEOPLE UP
AGAINST THE WALL, SLAMMING THEM
WOULD BE A BETTER TERM.
YELLING EVERY KIND OF NAME YOU
CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE AT THEM.
MANY TERMS FOR WHAT HAPPENED AS
WE WERE LAYING ON THE BAR.
I LIKE TO USE THE WORD RIOT.
TO ME, IT’S A RIOT THAT TURNS
INTO A REVOLUTION.
NO ONE KNEW STANDING OUTSIDE
THERE WHAT WE WERE GOING TO DO.
WHY WERE EVEN STANDING OUTSIDE
THERE?
THERE? WE WERE QUIET AT FIRST AND THEN
PEOPLE WOULD START APPLAUDING.
FINALLY, THERE WERE MORE OF US
OUTSIDE THAN PEOPLE INSIDE THE
BAR.
BAR. INSIDE THE BAR WERE JUST THE
POLICE AND THE FEW WORKERS OF
THE BAR.
THE BAR. THEY OPENED THE DOOR AND SAID
DISPERSE.
DISPERSE. FOR WHATEVER REASON WE DID NOT.
WE PICKED UP STONES OR CANS AND
WERE ON THE STREET.
ANYTHING THAT WAS ON THE STREET
AND STARTED THROWING IT AT THE
DOOR.
DOOR. AT FIRST IT WAS A FEW LITTLE
THINGS.
THINGS. NEXT TIME THEY OPENED IT, IT WAS
A BARRAGE.
A BARRAGE. TO THE POINT WHERE THEY COULDN’T
GET OUT OF THE BAR.
IN THE SENSE, FOR THE FIRST TIME
IN HISTORY, THE PEOPLE HAVE
IMPRISONED THE POLICE.
STONEWALL WASN’T ONE NIGHT.
IT WASN’T FOUR NIGHTS.
WASN’T SIX NIGHTS.
IT WASN’T SEVEN NIGHTS.
STONEWALL WAS 365 NIGHTS.
FROM THE ACT OF STONEWALL CAME
GAY LIBERATION.
GAY LIBERATION. THE FIRST NIGHT OF STONEWALL
DURING THE RIOTS, MARTY ROBINSON
CAME TO ME AND SAID RIGHT ON THE
STREETS AND ON THE WALLS ALL UP
AND DOWN THE STREET TOMORROW
NIGHT STONEWALL.
NIGHT STONEWALL. THAT LED TO THE SECOND NIGHT OF
STONEWALL.
STONEWALL. IT DEFIES THE POLICE.
WE WEREN’T ALLOWED TO GATHER
TOGETHER ON THE STREETS.
AND THEY WEREN’T ALLOWED TO LEAD
IT AGAINST THE POLICE.
WE WERE DARING THEM TO ARREST
US.
US. THAT’S THE SPIRIT OF STONEWALL.
THAT’S THE SPIRIT OF THE U.S.
WE THEN FROM THAT NIGHT CREATED
THE REVOLUTION, WHICH EVERYONE
NOW THINKS IS JUST STONEWALL.
IT’S NOT.
IT’S NOT. STONEWALL WAS A BEGINNING.
WE WERE OUT LOUD AND IN YOUR
FACE.
FACE. WE WERE NO LONGER GOING TO BE
INVISIBLE.
INVISIBLE. THAT’S WHAT WE STOOD FOR.
WE WERE ALSO GOING TO RETEDEFINE
OURSELVES.
OURSELVES. WE WERE NO LONGER THE CLINICAL
TERM HOMOSEXUAL.
TERM HOMOSEXUAL. WE’RE WHATEVER WE WOULD DEFINE
OURSELVES AS.
OURSELVES AS. FOR ONE YEAR WE WERE UNIFIED.
WE WERE UNIFIED BY EVERYTHING
FROM LESBIAN SEPARATISTS TO GAY
MALE COMMUNES, ALL WORKING
TOGETHER.
TOGETHER. THAT HAD NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE.
WE DID IT FOR A WHOLE YEAR.
IF THAT WERE NOT ENOUGH, AT THE
END OF THE YEAR, WE CREATED WHAT
YOU NOW CALL GAY PRIDE.
WE WENT FROM LITERALLY BEFORE TO
ONLY 100 ACTIVISTS IN AMERICA,
THAT FIRST GAY PRIDE, 15,000.
CREATING A GRASS ROOTS
DIVERSIFIED COMMUNITY WAS MAGIC.
AND CREATED THE GAY MOVEMENT WE
HAVE TODAY.