How could a little four year old kid learning to ride his bike and playing with Hot Wheels know an event that would have such a profound impact on his life was going on 650 miles away. June 28, 1969, the day the patrons of The Stonewall Inn decided they weren’t going to take the raids and police harassment any more. As the evening went on, the police were barricaded inside as the rioters were outside turning over cars, setting fires, destroying property and resisting. The vandalism and violence went on for several days and what emerged afterward was the new voice of Gay Power. Hundreds of new gay rights organizations sprung up in the following months because, “We’re not gonna take it anymore”. The gay rights movement moved forward until the AIDS epidemic stopped it in it’s tracks in the 80′s and tolerance seemed to be a thing of the past for many years. It seemed to gain it’s momentum back in the mid 90′s and although we seem to not be able to cross this gay marriage threshold, considering were we were, we know if we persevere, we’ll succeed. Today is a day where we should celebrate gay rights activists from yesteryear and tell this story to these youngsters who may not be aware of where they came from, everybody from Harvey Milk, the members of The Mattachine Society, the millions that have protested over the years, and every out person.
As I struggled to come out of the closet myself, I read a book called Stonewall, telling the story of the events and it changed my life. Since then, another book called Stonewall, The Riots That Sparked The Gay Revolution by David Carter provided an even better account of what it was all about. I may pull it out and give it another go through.
