It was not a place that, in my life, me and my friends paid much attention to. The windows were always cloaked. "Don't fire. Mafia house beer? And I raised my hand at one point and said, "Let's have a protest march." You cut one head off. This is one thing that if you don't get caught by us, you'll be caught by yourself. Once it started, once that genie was out of the bottle, it was never going to go back in. Alexandra Meryash Nikolchev, On-Line Editors But I had only stuck my head in once at the Stonewall. Martin Boyce:I heard about the trucks, which to me was fascinated me, you know, it had an imagination thing that was like Marseilles, how can it only be a few blocks away? We ought to know, we've arrested all of them. Almost anything you could name. We knew it was a gay bar, we walked past it. Dr. Socarides (Archival):Homosexuality is in fact a mental illness which has reached epidemiological proportions. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community is a 1984 American documentary film about the LGBT community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots. Doric Wilson:When I was very young, one of the terms for gay people was twilight people, meaning that we never came out until twilight, 'til it got dark. We went, "Oh my God. And if we catch you, involved with a homosexual, your parents are going to know about it first. The Mafia owned the jukeboxes, they owned the cigarette machines and most of the liquor was off a truck hijacking. It must have been terrifying for them. So if any one of you, have let yourself become involved with an adult homosexual, or with another boy, and you're doing this on a regular basis, you better stop quick. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We told this to our men. Even non-gay people. People standing on cars, standing on garbage cans, screaming, yelling. Martha Shelley:Before Stonewall, the homophile movement was essentially the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis and all of these other little gay organizations, some of which were just two people and a mimeograph machine. Historic Films Because if you don't have extremes, you don't get any moderation. Before Stonewall - Trailer - YouTube Interviewer (Archival):Are you a homosexual? That was our world, that block. As president of the Mattachine Society in New York, I tried to negotiate with the police and the mayor. Narrator (Archival):This is a nation of laws. Lester Senior Housing Community, Jewish Community Housing Corporation Quentin Heilbroner Marc Aubin The term like "authority figures" wasn't used back then, there was just "Lily Law," "Patty Pig," "Betty Badge." They could be judges, lawyers. Fred Sargeant:Things started off small, but there was an energy that began to flow through the crowd. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Well, we did use the small hoses on the fire extinguishers. I could never let that happen and never did. There may be some here today that will be homosexual in the future. Martin Boyce:All of a sudden, Miss New Orleans and all people around us started marching step by step and the police started moving back. Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries That's what gave oxygen to the fire. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt Fred Sargeant:When it was clear that things were definitely over for the evening, we decided we needed to do something more. One was the 1845 statute that made it a crime in the state to masquerade. She was awarded the first ever Emmy Award for Research for her groundbreaking work on Before Stonewall. TV Host (Archival):Ladies and gentlemen, the reason for using first names only forthese very, very charming contestants is that right now each one of them is breaking the law. Naturally, you get careless, you fall for it, and the next thing you know, you have silver bracelets on both arms. You needed a license even to be a beautician and that could be either denied or taken away from you. Dick Leitsch:New York State Liquor Authority had a rule that one known homosexual at a licensed premise made the place disorderly, so nobody would set up a place where we could meet because they were afraid that the cops would come in to close it, and that's how the Mafia got into the gay bar business. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:If someone was dressed as a woman, you had to have a female police officer go in with her. Katrina Heilbroner [00:00:55] Oh, my God. And the police were showing up. Detective John Sorenson, Dade County Morals & Juvenile Squad (Archival):There may be some in this auditorium. And I think it's both the alienation, also the oppression that people suffered. Narrator (Archival):Sure enough, the following day, when Jimmy finished playing ball, well, the man was there waiting. I grew up in a very Catholic household and the conflict of issues of redemption, of is it possible that if you are this thing called homosexual, is it possible to be redeemed? Getting then in the car, rocking them back and forth. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:It was always hands up, what do you want? This book, and the related documentary film, use oral histories to present students with a varied view of lesbian and gay experience. Activists had been working for change long before Stonewall. Jeremiah Hawkins Martha Shelley Some of the pre-Stonewall uprisings included: Black Cat Raid, Los Angeles, California, 1967 Black Night Brawl, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 5, 1961. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community All kinds of designers, boxers, big museum people. There were gay bars in Midtown, there were gay bars uptown, there were certain kinds of gay bars on the Upper East Side, you know really, really, really buttoned-up straight gay bars. Raymond Castro:Society expected you to, you know, grow up, get married, have kids, which is what a lot of people did to satisfy their parents. But we went down to the trucks and there, people would have sex. Alfredo del Rio, Archival Still and Motion Images Courtesy of Martin Boyce:You could be beaten, you could have your head smashed in a men's room because you were looking the wrong way. I was wearing my mother's black and white cocktail dress that was empire-waisted. And they were gay. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:The moment you stepped out that door there would be hundreds facing you. "We're not going.". The cops were barricaded inside. These homosexuals glorify unnatural sex acts. National Archives and Records Administration Audience Member (Archival):I was wondering if you think that there are any quote "happy homosexuals" for whom homosexuality would be, in a way, their best adjustment in life? Read a July 6, 1969excerpt fromTheNew York Daily News. The events that took place in June 1969 have been described as the birth of the gay-rights movement, but that's only partially true. And when she grabbed that everybody knew she couldn't do it alone so all the other queens, Congo Woman, queens like that started and they were hitting that door. Well, it was a nightmare for the lesbian or gay man who was arrested and caught up in this juggernaut, but it was also a nightmare for the lesbians or gay men who lived in the closet. And I ran into Howard Smith on the street,The Village Voicewas right there. Things were being thrown against the plywood, we piled things up to try to buttress it. And we all relaxed. W hen police raided a Greenwich Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, on June 28, 1969 50 years ago this month the harassment was routine for the time. [1] To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 2019, the film was restored and re-released by First Run Features in June 2019. And, it was, I knew I would go through hell, I would go through fire for that experience. He may appear normal, and it may be too late when you discover he is mentally ill. John O'Brien:I was a poor, young gay person. There were occasions where you did see people get night-sticked, or disappear into a group of police and, you know, everybody knew that was not going to have a good end. Jerry Hoose:I remember I was in a paddy wagon one time on the way to jail, we were all locked up together on a chain in the paddy wagon and the paddy wagon stopped for a red light or something and one of the queens said "Oh, this is my stop." Other images in this film are either recreations or drawn from events of the time. Slate:Perversion for Profit(1965), Citizens for Decency Through Law. Jay Fialkov The most infamous of those institutions was Atascadero, in California. Eric Marcus has spent years interviewing people who were there that night, as well as those who were pushing for gay rights before Stonewall. This time they said, "We're not going." Martin Boyce:In the early 60s, if you would go near Port Authority, there were tons of people coming in. Eric Marcus, Recreation Still Photography Before Stonewall - Wikipedia Stonewall Uprising Program Transcript Slate: In 1969, homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois. Before Stonewall - Trailer BuskFilms 12.6K subscribers Subscribe 14K views 10 years ago Watch the full film here (UK & IRE only): http://buskfilms.com/films/before-sto. Janice Flood Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free dramatic stories from the early 1900's onwards of public and private existence as experienced by LGBT Americans. Susana Fernandes I mean does anyone know what that is? Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:And they were, they were kids. So I run down there. June 21, 2019 1:29 PM EDT. And there was tear gas on Saturday night, right in front of the Stonewall. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:At the peak, as many as 500 people per year were arrested for the crime against nature, and between 3- and 5,000 people per year arrested for various solicitation or loitering crimes. But I'm wearing this police thing I'm thinking well if they break through I better take it off really quickly but they're gunna come this way and we're going to be backing up and -- who knows what'll happen. Brief Summary Of The Documentary 'Before Stonewall' | Bartleby Louis Mandelbaum Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:There were gay bars all over town, not just in Greenwich Village. Also, through this fight, the "LGBT" was born. I was a man. He brought in gay-positive materials and placed that in a setting that people could come to and feel comfortable in. Jerry Hoose:The police would come by two or three times a night. And that, that was a very haunting issue for me. Trevor, Post Production They are taught that no man is born homosexual and many psychiatrists now believe that homosexuality begins to form in the first three years of life. Somehow being gay was the most terrible thing you could possibly be. Before Stonewall. Do you understand me?". Queer was very big. For the first time, we weren't letting ourselves be carted off to jails, gay people were actually fighting back just the way people in the peace movement fought back. They can be anywhere. Jimmy hadn't enjoyed himself so much in a long time. John O'Brien:It was definitely dark, it was definitely smelly and raunchy and dirty and that's the only places that we had to meet each other, was in the very dirty, despicable places. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:All of straight America, in terms of the middle class, was recoiling in horror from what was happening all around them at that time, in that summer and the summer before. Danny Garvin:Everybody would just freeze or clam up. Doric Wilson Michael Dolan, Technical Advisors This was in front of the police. And then there were all these priests ranting in church about certain places not to go, so you kind of knew where you could go by what you were told not to do. Transcript Enlarge this image To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, activists rode their motorcycles during the city's 1989 gay-pride parade. Dick Leitsch:And that's when you started seeing like, bodies laying on the sidewalk, people bleeding from the head. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, activists rode their motorcycles during the city's 1989 gay-pride parade. You had no place to try to find an identity. But it was a refuge, it was a temporary refuge from the street. Your choice, you can come in with us or you can stay out here with the crowd and report your stuff from out here. Daily News We love to hear from our listeners! Chris Mara, Production Assistants In an effort to avoid being anachronistic . Dick Leitsch:And I remember it being a clear evening with a big black sky and the biggest white moon I ever saw. A New York Police officer grabs a man by the hair as another officer clubs a man during a confrontation in Greenwich Village after a Gay Power march in New York. Except for the few mob-owned bars that allowed some socializing, it was basically for verboten. But as we were going up 6th Avenue, it kept growing. Before Stonewall (1984) - IMDb Dick Leitsch:Mattachino in Italy were court jesters; the only people in the whole kingdom who could speak truth to the king because they did it with a smile. A Q-Ball Productions film for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE And the rest of your life will be a living hell. Colonial House Getty Images We didn't expect we'd ever get to Central Park. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:What they did in the Stonewall that night. Absolutely, and many people who were not lucky, felt the cops. Doug Cramer One time, a bunch of us ran into somebody's car and locked the door and they smashed the windows in. More than a half-century after its release, " The Queen " serves as a powerful time capsule of queer life as it existed before the 1969 Stonewall uprising. Before Stonewall was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival. Before Stonewall (1984) Movie Script | Subs like Script In 1969 it was common for police officers to rough up a gay bar and ask for payoffs. And that crowd between Howard Johnson's and Mama's Chik-n-Rib was like the basic crowd of the gay community at that time in the Village. Richard Enman (Archival):Well, let me say, first of all, what type of laws we are not after, because there has been much to-do that the Society was in favor of the legalization of marriage between homosexuals, and the adoption of children, and such as that, and that is not at all factual at all. 'Cause I really realized that I was being trained as a straight person, so I could really fool these people. John O'Brien:In the Civil Rights Movement, we ran from the police, in the peace movement, we ran from the police. When we got dressed for that night, we had cocktails and we put the makeup on. John Scagliotti Sophie Cabott Black Because as the police moved back, we were conscious, all of us, of the area we were controlling and now we were in control of the area because we were surrounded the bar, we were moving in, they were moving back. One of the world's oldest and largest gay pride parades became a victory celebration after New York's historic decision to legalize same-sex marriage. We could easily be hunted, that was a game. Dick Leitsch:It was an invasion, I mean you felt outraged and stuff like you know what, God, this is America, what's this country come to? But the . The New York State Liquor Authority refused to issue liquor licenses to many gay bars, and several popular establishments had licenses suspended or revoked for "indecent conduct.". Doric Wilson:That's what happened Stonewall night to a lot of people. Dan Bodner Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement. Narrator (Archival):We arrested homosexuals who committed their lewd acts in public places. Stonewall Tscript | PDF | Homosexuality | Lgbt John O'Brien:And deep down I believed because I was gay and couldn't speak out for my rights, was probably one of the reasons that I was so active in the Civil Rights Movement. View in iTunes. Martin Boyce:The day after the first riot, when it was all over, and I remember sitting, sun was soon to come, and I was sitting on the stoop, and I was exhausted and I looked at that street, it was dark enough to allow the street lamps to pick up the glitter of all the broken glass, and all the debris, and all the different colored cloth, that was in different places. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Awards, the film was shown at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016. Raymond Castro:So finally when they started taking me out, arm in arm up to the paddy wagon, I jumped up and I put one foot on one side, one foot on the other and I sprung back, knocking the two arresting officers, knocking them to the ground. Leaflets in the 60s were like the internet, today. John O'Brien:We had no idea we were gonna finish the march. Raymond Castro:You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters and it was a good sound. Pamela Gaudiano Frank Kameny, co-founder of the Mattachine Society, and Shirley Willer, president of the Daughters of Bilitis, spoke to Marcus about being gay before the Stonewall riots happened and what motivated people who were involved in the movement. John O'Brien:Whenever you see the cops, you would run away from them. Robin Haueter Do you want them to lose all chance of a normal, happy, married life? Danny Garvin:With Waverly Street coming in there, West Fourth coming in there, Seventh Avenue coming in there, Christopher Street coming in there, there was no way to contain us. You know, we wanted to be part of the mainstream society. Martin Boyce:I wasn't labeled gay, just "different." I went in there and they took bats and just busted that place up. Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn has undergone several transformations in the decades since it was the focal point of a three-day riot in 1969. It was done in our little street talk. I am not alone, there are other people that feel exactly the same way.". Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:There were no instructions except: put them out of business. A New York Police officer grabs a man by the hair as another officer clubs a. Danny Garvin In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's gay community. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:The mob raised its hand and said "Oh, we'll volunteer," you know, "We'll set up some gay bars and serve over-priced, watered-down drinks to you guys." Because he was homosexual. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:As much as I don't like to say it, there's a place for violence. Mike Wallace (Archival):The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous. Former U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with gay rights activist Frank Kameny after signing a memorandum on federal benefits and non-discrimination in the Oval Office on June 17, 2009. John DiGiacomo Geordie, Liam and Theo Gude Urban Stages So in every gay pride parade every year, Stonewall lives. David Carter Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It really should have been called Stonewall uprising. Original Language: English. Martin Boyce:I had cousins, ten years older than me, and they had a car sometimes. You knew you could ruin them for life. Mary Queen of the Scotch, Congo Woman, Captain Faggot, Miss Twiggy. Andrea Weiss is a documentary filmmaker and author with a Ph.D. in American History. Doric Wilson:Somebody that I knew that was older than me, his family had him sent off where they go up and damage the frontal part of the brain. Doric Wilson:There was joy because the cops weren't winning. It was narrated by author Rita Mae Brown, directed by Greta Schiller, co-directed by Robert Rosenberg, and co-produced by John Scagliotti and Rosenberg, and Schiller.