workingclasshistory:

On this day exactly 50 years ago, 28 June 1969, the Stonewall riots began in the early hours. The NYPD, as part of its policy of closing gay bars, raided the Stonewall Inn, which had a mainly poor and working class LGBT clientele. However for the first time, rather than submitting, a crowd began to gather around the police. Black, Latina, white, trans women, lesbians, drag queens, and gay men all physically fought against the police, triggering riots which lasted three days, followed by sustained organising efforts to allow LGBT people to be openly out in New York City. On June 28, the following year the first Gay Pride marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere and the LGBT rights movement continued to go from strength to strength until this day.
We spoke to participants in the rebellion, who tell their story in their own words in our two-part podcast episode on Stonewall and the origins of Pride. Listen to it here, or find us on your favourite podcast app: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/05/13/e21-22-the-stonewall-riots-and-pride-at-50/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1156073754577773/?type=3