By Henrike Kattoll

The month of June com­mem­o­rates a turn­ing point in many coun­tries’ LGBTQ+ his­to­ry. In the U.S., the Stonewall Riots mark this turn­ing point.

The Stonewall Inn is a gay bar locat­ed in Green­wich Vil­lage. Before the riots, the police rou­tine­ly raid­ed the Mafia-run gay bars to harass or detain mem­bers of the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty. On the morn­ing of June 28, 1969, a sur­prise raid took place at the Stonewall Inn. The angry patrons and neigh­bor­hood res­i­dents, fed up with the con­stant police harass­ment and social dis­crim­i­na­tion, gath­ered out­side the bar and became increas­ing­ly agi­tat­ed about the police aggres­sive­ly man­han­dling peo­ple. Soon after­ward, the onlook­ers began to throw objects – pen­nies, bot­tles, and cob­ble stones – at the police. The full-blown riot con­tin­ued for five more days, involv­ing thou­sands of peo­ple clash­ing with law enforce­ment on Christo­pher Street and neigh­bor­ing roads. The fab­u­lous Mar­sha P. John­son, a Black drag queen, is cred­it­ed for throw­ing the first stone – although she’s nev­er con­firmed it.

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