The Gay Rights Movement: Starting At Stonewall
Starting at Stonewall The topic I choose for my Final Project Paper was “Starting at Stonewall: The Gay Rights Movement.” While researching this topic, my points of focus were how the events at Stonewall started. I also thought to focus on what the outcome of the event was. More of a “cause and effect” focus. To fully understand how the events at the Stonewall Inn came about, you need to understand how society was in that time. Gays were not openly accepted by the world like they are today. In fact, in the late 1960s, homosexual relations were illegal in every state except Illinois and Connecticut. Gays were seen as outcasts, and they faced open discrimination due to their sexual orientation. Many openly gay men were refused housing and jobs.
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On July 9, 1969, the first Gay Power meeting was held. A year later, in June of 1970, representatives of the newly formed organizations and gay pride subgroups came together to honor and commemorate the Stonewall Riots through the first Gay Pride celebrations. On Sundays, people marched in parades and the week was coined as the “First Birthday of Gay Liberation.” Even to this day, June is known as Gay Pride …show more content…
This also started a new generations of activists. More and more people stood up for themselves. It was a new start for many people, like the homeless homosexual teenagers who were rejected by their families, or the people who had to pretend to be straight in society to be accepted. Not many can deny that Stonewall was the birth place for the gay pride movement. It started from the years of discrimination and suppression of gays. It was a completely different time then from what it is now. Imagine having to hide how you felt, even from your own family. To be denied the pleasure of human interaction in public and having to resort to meeting in illegal bars. These people, who are no different from you or I, were treated like barbaric, mental criminals, like diseases of society. They were looked down upon as if they were lesser than any other heterosexual. They had to pretend to be something they weren’t to be able to live, but in the end, they weren’t living at all. It’s hard to say why exactly the crowd choice to stay and stand up for themselves at Stonewall after so long, but like every heroic act, it sparked a
On July 9, 1969, the first Gay Power meeting was held. A year later, in June of 1970, representatives of the newly formed organizations and gay pride subgroups came together to honor and commemorate the Stonewall Riots through the first Gay Pride celebrations. On Sundays, people marched in parades and the week was coined as the “First Birthday of Gay Liberation.” Even to this day, June is known as Gay Pride …show more content…
This also started a new generations of activists. More and more people stood up for themselves. It was a new start for many people, like the homeless homosexual teenagers who were rejected by their families, or the people who had to pretend to be straight in society to be accepted. Not many can deny that Stonewall was the birth place for the gay pride movement. It started from the years of discrimination and suppression of gays. It was a completely different time then from what it is now. Imagine having to hide how you felt, even from your own family. To be denied the pleasure of human interaction in public and having to resort to meeting in illegal bars. These people, who are no different from you or I, were treated like barbaric, mental criminals, like diseases of society. They were looked down upon as if they were lesser than any other heterosexual. They had to pretend to be something they weren’t to be able to live, but in the end, they weren’t living at all. It’s hard to say why exactly the crowd choice to stay and stand up for themselves at Stonewall after so long, but like every heroic act, it sparked a