Raymond Castro:New York City subways, parks, public bathrooms, you name it. Joe DeCola It's the first time I'm fully inside the Stonewall. The New York Times / Redux Pictures I told the person at the door, I said "I'm 18 tonight" and he said to me, "you little SOB," he said. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:The police would zero in on us because sometimes they would be in plain clothes, and sometimes they would even entrap. John O'Brien:They had increased their raids in the trucks. Fred Sargeant:In the '60s, I met Craig Rodwell who was running the Oscar Wilde Bookshop. Long before marriage equality, non-binary gender identity, and the flood of new documentaries commemorating this month's 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village uprising that begat the gay rights movement, there was Greta Schiller's Before Stonewall.Originally released in 1984as AIDS was slowly killing off many of those bar patrons-turned-revolutionariesthe film, through the use of . The documentary "Before Stonewall" was very educational and interesting because it shows a retail group that fought for the right to integrate into the society and was where the homosexual revolution occurred. That's more an uprising than a riot. So I run down there. A lot of them had been thrown out of their families. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Gay rights, like the rights of blacks, were constantly under attack and while blacks were protected by constitutional amendments coming out of the Civil War, gays were not protected by law and certainly not the Constitution. WGBH Educational Foundation Just let's see if they can. 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. Katrina Heilbroner It premiered at the 1984 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United States on June 27, 1985. Documentary | Stonewall Forever They really were objecting to how they were being treated. Mike Wallace (Archival):The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous. It said the most dreadful things, it said nothing about being a person. And a whole bunch of people who were in the paddy wagon ran out. 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. Narrator (Archival):We arrested homosexuals who committed their lewd acts in public places. You throw into that, that the Stonewall was raided the previous Tuesday night. But we couldn't hold out very long. Gay people were told we didn't have any of that. Narrator (Archival):This involves showing the gay man pictures of nude males and shocking him with a strong electric current. The windows were always cloaked. Oh, tell me about your anxiety. You know. Before Stonewall | Apple TV Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We didn't have the manpower, and the manpower for the other side was coming like it was a real war. Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries . Also, through this fight, the "LGBT" was born. Jerry Hoose:Who was gonna complain about a crackdown against gay people? Never, never, never. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:I never bought a drink at the Stonewall. Before Stonewall - Trailer - YouTube As kids, we played King Kong. I mean it didn't stop after that. We'd say, "Here comes Lillian.". Before Stonewall, the activists wanted to fit into society and not rock the boat. All I knew about was that I heard that there were people down in Times Square who were gay and that's where I went to. I mean, I came out in Central Park and other places. Yvonne Ritter:I had just turned 18 on June 27, 1969. Do you understand me?". And Dick Leitsch, who was the head of the Mattachine Society said, "Who's in favor?" Participants of the 1969 Greenwich Village uprising describe the effect that Stonewall had on their lives. Fred Sargeant:When it was clear that things were definitely over for the evening, we decided we needed to do something more. I was celebrating my birthday at the Stonewall. Because if you don't have extremes, you don't get any moderation. That never happened before. Scott McPartland/Getty Images 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? I went in there and they took bats and just busted that place up. And the harder she fought, the more the cops were beating her up and the madder the crowd got. They pushed everybody like to the back room and slowly asking for IDs. The Stonewall had reopened. It was as if an artist had arranged it, it was beautiful, it was like mica, it was like the streets we fought on were strewn with diamonds. On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided a Greenwich Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, setting off a three-day riot that launched the modern American gay rights movement. Doug Cramer [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. John O'Brien:They went for the head wounds, it wasn't just the back wounds and the leg wounds. The events. Before Stonewall (1984) - full transcript New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. This 19-year-old serviceman left his girlfriend on the beach to go to a men's room in a park nearby where he knew that he could find a homosexual contact. The mob was saying, you know, "Screw you, cops, you think you can come in a bust us up? National History Archive, LGBT Community Center We were winning. There was all these drags queens and these crazy people and everybody was carrying on. The overwhelming number of medical authorities said that homosexuality was a mental defect, maybe even a form of psychopathy. I first engaged in such acts when I was 14 years old. Pamela Gaudiano It's a history that people feel a huge sense of ownership over. American Airlines Narrator (Archival):Sure enough, the following day, when Jimmy finished playing ball, well, the man was there waiting. It was tremendous freedom. Because he was homosexual. 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. 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. ", Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And he went to each man and said it by name. Liz Davis Mike Nuget People talk about being in and out now, there was no out, there was just in. In 1999, producer Scagliotti directed a companion piece, After Stonewall. The cops were barricaded inside. I mean I'm talking like sardines. But the . And if we catch you, involved with a homosexual, your parents are going to know about it first. A few of us would get dressed up in skirts and blouses and the guys would all have to wear suits and ties. 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. 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? The men's room was under police surveillance. One was the 1845 statute that made it a crime in the state to masquerade. And then as you turned into the other room with the jukebox, those were the drag queens around the jukebox. Martin Boyce:I had cousins, ten years older than me, and they had a car sometimes. WPA Film Library, Thanks to And, you know,The Village Voiceat that point started using the word "gay.". Leaflets in the 60s were like the internet, today. Raymond Castro:There were mesh garbage cans being lit up on fire and being thrown at the police. William Eskridge, Professor of Law: The 1960s were dark ages for lesbians and gay men all over America. The only faces you will see are those of the arresting officers. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It really should have been called Stonewall uprising. Dana Kirchoff Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:There were complaints from people who objected to the wrongful behavior of some gays who would have sex on the street. There may be some girls here who will turn lesbian. There are a lot of kids here. When we got dressed for that night, we had cocktails and we put the makeup on. Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives Lauren Noyes. Vanessa Ezersky We didn't expect we'd ever get to Central Park. hide caption. LGBTQ+ History Before Stonewall | Stacker Cop (Archival):Anyone can walk into that men's room, any child can walk in there, and see what you guys were doing. Martin Boyce:In the early 60s, if you would go near Port Authority, there were tons of people coming in. So gay people were being strangled, shot, thrown in the river, blackmailed, fired from jobs. Narrator (Archival):Do you want your son enticed into the world of homosexuals, or your daughter lured into lesbianism? Lilli M. Vincenz It was like a reward. I met this guy and I broke down crying in his arms. Jerry Hoose:The bar itself was a toilet. Revealing and. Martha Shelley:In those days, what they would do, these psychiatrists, is they would try to talk you into being heterosexual. The first police officer that came in with our group said, "The place is under arrest. The film brings together voices from over 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement to explore queer activism before, during and after the Stonewall Riots. The scenes were photographed with telescopic lenses. Raymond Castro The groundbreaking 1984 film "Before Stonewall" introduced audiences to some of the key players and places that helped spark the Greenwich Village riots. You know, it's just, everybody was there. Where did you buy it? ", Martin Boyce:People in the neighborhood, the most unlikely people were starting to support it. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:The moment you stepped out that door there would be hundreds facing you. That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. That's what happened on June 28, but as people were released, the night took an unusual turn when protesters and police clashed. The Catholic Church, be damned to hell. You know, Howard's concern was and my concern was that if all hell broke loose, they'd just start busting heads. John O'Brien:I was very anti-police, had many years already of activism against the forces of law and order. Other images in this film are David Carter Judy Laster Danny Garvin:Bam, bam and bash and then an opening and then whoa. I would get in the back of the car and they would say, "We're going to go see faggots." Glenn Fukushima Martin Boyce:Well, in the front part of the bar would be like "A" gays, like regular gays, that didn't go in any kind of drag, didn't use the word "she," that type, but they were gay, a hundred percent gay. And I hadn't had enough sleep, so I was in a somewhat feverish state, and I thought, "We have to do something, we have to do something," and I thought, "We have to have a protest march of our own." They frequent their own clubs, and bars and coffee houses, where they can escape the disapproving eye of the society that they call straight. If that didn't work, they would do things like aversive conditioning, you know, show you pornography and then give you an electric shock. That this was normal stuff. [7] In 1987, the film won Emmy Awards for Best Historical/Cultural Program and Best Research. 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. As president of the Mattachine Society in New York, I tried to negotiate with the police and the mayor. But it was a refuge, it was a temporary refuge from the street. TV Host (Archival):Are those your own eyelashes? You had no place to try to find an identity. All kinds of designers, boxers, big museum people. Jerry Hoose:I was afraid it was over. We'll put new liquor in there, we'll put a new mirror up, we'll get a new jukebox." They'd go into the bathroom or any place that was private, that they could either feel them, or check them visually. Before Stonewall streaming: where to watch online? - JustWatch What Jimmy didn't know is that Ralph was sick. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:Gay people who were sentenced to medical institutions because they were found to be sexual psychopaths, were subjected sometimes to sterilization, occasionally to castration, sometimes to medical procedures, such as lobotomies, which were felt by some doctors to cure homosexuality and other sexual diseases. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:Ed Koch who was a democratic party leader in the Greenwich Village area, was a specific leader of the local forces seeking to clean up the streets. This Restored Documentary Examines What LGBTQ Lives Were Like Before Transcript A gay rights march in New York in favor of the 1968 Civil Rights Act being amended to include gay rights. But everybody knew it wasn't normal stuff and everyone was on edge and that was the worst part of it because you knew they were on edge and you knew that the first shot that was fired meant all the shots would be fired. We didn't necessarily know where we were going yet, you know, what organizations we were going to be or how things would go, but we became something I, as a person, could all of a sudden grab onto, that I couldn't grab onto when I'd go to a subway T-room as a kid, or a 42nd street movie theater, you know, or being picked up by some dirty old man. It was fun to see fags. They could be judges, lawyers. Urban Stages Getty Images William Eskridge, Professor of Law:The federal government would fire you, school boards would fire you. Evan Eames And I knew that I was lesbian. Danny Garvin:Something snapped. Danny Garvin:We became a people. It's very American to say, "You promised equality, you promised freedom." Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution It was a way to vent my anger at being repressed. I would wait until there was nobody left to be the girl and then I would be the girl. Diana Davies Photographs, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations "BEFORE STONEWALL" - MetroFocus Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:At a certain point, it felt pretty dangerous to me but I noticed that the cop that seemed in charge, he said you know what, we have to go inside for safety. Is that conceivable? Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community Jimmy knew he shouldn't be interested but, well, he was curious. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:The Stonewall pulled in everyone from every part of gay life. Because if they weren't there fast, I was worried that there was something going on that I didn't know about and they weren't gonna come. Martha Shelley:When I was growing up in the '50s, I was supposed to get married to some guy, produce, you know, the usual 2.3 children, and I could look at a guy and say, "Well, objectively he's good looking," but I didn't feel anything, just didn't make any sense to me. There may be some here today that will be homosexual in the future. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:There were gay bars all over town, not just in Greenwich Village. Slate:Activity Group Therapy (1950), Columbia University Educational Films. Yvonne Ritter:I did try to get out of the bar and I thought that there might be a way out through one of the bathrooms. The severity of the punishment varies from state to state. Michael Dolan, Technical Advisors But as we were going up 6th Avenue, it kept growing. Director . It was as if they were identifying a thing. 'Before Stonewall' Tracks the Pre-Movement Era | International Bettye Lane I never saw so many gay people dancing in my life. Except for the few mob-owned bars that allowed some socializing, it was basically for verboten. Eric Marcus, Writer:The Mattachine Society was the first gay rights organization, and they literally met in a space with the blinds drawn. But we're going to pay dearly for this. Because one out of three of you will turn queer. Chris Mara In the sexual area, in psychology, psychiatry. 'Cause I really realized that I was being trained as a straight person, so I could really fool these people. Jerry Hoose:And I got to the corner of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street, crossed the street and there I had found Nirvana. Revealing and, by turns, humorous and horrifying, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotional and political spark of today's gay rights movement - the events that . Eric Marcus, Writer:It was incredibly hot. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:But there were little, tiny pin holes in the plywood windows, I'll call them the windows but they were plywood, and we could look out from there and every time I went over and looked out through one of those pin holes where he did, we were shocked at how big the crowd had become. And then they send them out in the street and of course they did make arrests, because you know, there's all these guys who cruise around looking for drag queens. BBC Worldwide Americas Narrator (Archival):Note how Albert delicately pats his hair, and adjusts his collar. Before Stonewall (1984) - IMDb Beginning of our night out started early. Review: 'Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community' Don't fire until I fire. Read a July 6, 1969excerpt fromTheNew York Daily News. Virginia Apuzzo:It was free but not quite free enough for us. Available via license: Content may be subject to . When you exit, have some identification and it'll be over in a short time." Gay people were not powerful enough politically to prevent the clampdown and so you had a series of escalating skirmishes in 1969. Raymond Castro:If that light goes on, you know to stop whatever you're doing, and separate. Hear more of the conversation and historical interviews at the audio link. Doric Wilson:In those days, the idea of walking in daylight, with a sign saying, "I'm a faggot," was horren--, nobody, nobody was ready to do that. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:There were no instructions except: put them out of business. That was scary, very scary. TV Host (Archival):And Sonia is that your own hair? Martha Shelley:They wanted to fit into American society the way it was. And the first gay power demonstration to my knowledge was against my story inThe Village Voiceon Wednesday. And Howard said, "Boy there's like a riot gonna happen here," and I said, "yeah." Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Yes, entrapment did exist, particularly in the subway system, in the bathrooms. Hunted, hunted, sometimes we were hunted. Homosexuality was a dishonorable discharge in those days, and you couldn't get a job afterwards. But we had to follow up, we couldn't just let that be a blip that disappeared. It gives back a little of the terror they gave in my life. Martin Boyce:It was another great step forward in the story of human rights, that's what it was. And they were gay. Dick Leitsch:And so the cops came with these buses, like five buses, and they all were full of tactical police force. I didn't think I could have been any prettier than that night. Geordie, Liam and Theo Gude Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:The Stonewall, they didn't have a liquor license and they were raided by the cops regularly and there were pay-offs to the cops, it was awful. It was a real good sound to know that, you know, you had a lot of people out there pulling for you. Somebody grabbed me by the leg and told me I wasn't going anywhere. The documentary shows how homosexual people enjoyed and shared with each other. And gay people were standing around outside and the mood on the street was, "They think that they could disperse us last night and keep us from doing what we want to do, being on the street saying I'm gay and I'm proud? John O'Brien:Our goal was to hurt those police. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was getting worse and worse. Doing things like that. And it's that hairpin trigger thing that makes the riot happen. A person marching in a gay rights parade along New York's Fifth Avenue on July 7th, 1979. kui All rights reserved. And it was fantastic. Tires were slashed on police cars and it just went on all night long. It was one of the things you did in New York, it was like the Barnum and Bailey aspect of it. 1969: The Stonewall Uprising - Library of Congress And it just seemed like, fantastic because the background was this industrial, becoming an industrial ruin, it was a masculine setting, it was a whole world. Cause I was from the streets. John O'Brien:If a gay man is caught by the police and is identified as being involved in what they called lewd, immoral behavior, they would have their person's name, their age and many times their home address listed in the major newspapers. Suzanne Poli This, to a homosexual, is no choice at all. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:That night I'm in my office, I looked down the street, and I could see the Stonewall sign and I started to see some activity in front. The Chicago riots, the Human Be-in, the dope smoking, the hippies. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:They started busting cans of tear gas. Things were being thrown against the plywood, we piled things up to try to buttress it. The very idea of being out, it was ludicrous. 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. Narrator (Archival):This is a nation of laws. And she was quite crazy. I mean I'm only 19 and this'll ruin me. John O'Brien:And then somebody started a fire, they started with little lighters and matches. Alexis Charizopolis (c) 2011 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. Martin Boyce:We were like a Hydra. He brought in gay-positive materials and placed that in a setting that people could come to and feel comfortable in. Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries We were thinking about survival. Colonial House Cause we could feel a sense of love for each other that we couldn't show out on the street, because you couldn't show any affection out on the street. Barney Karpfinger I was wearing my mother's black and white cocktail dress that was empire-waisted. I learned, very early, that those horrible words were about me, that I was one of those people. With this outpouring of courage and unity the gay liberation movement had begun. 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. You knew you could ruin them for life. Transcript Aired June 9, 2020 Stonewall Uprising The Year That Changed America Film Description When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section 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. Danny Garvin:And the cops just charged them. It was first released in 1984 with its American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and its European premiere at the Berlinale, followed by a successful theatrical release in many countries and a national broadcast on PBS. It was as bad as any situation that I had met in during the army, had just as much to worry about. 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. Alfredo del Rio, Archival Still and Motion Images Courtesy of There was at least one gay bar that was run just as a hustler bar for straight gay married men. And as I'm looking around to see what's going on, police cars, different things happening, it's getting bigger by the minute. 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.". Gay people were never supposed to be threats to police officers. 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. Charles Harris, Transcriptions To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Awards, the film was shown at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016. We went, "Oh my God. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:All throughout the 60s in New York City, the period when the New York World's Fair was attracting visitors from all over America and all over the world. by David Carter, Associate Producer and Advisor This 1955 educational film warns of homosexuality, calling it "a sickness of the mind.". 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. Raymond Castro:You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters and it was a good sound. ITN Source June 21, 2019 1:29 PM EDT. I was a man. One never knows when the homosexual is about. On June 27, 1969, police raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York. We love to hear from our listeners! It was nonsense, it was nonsense, it was all the people there, that were reacting and opposing what was occurring. This time they said, "We're not going." Mike Wallace (Archival):Dr. Charles Socarides is a New York psychoanalyst at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:I had a column inThe Village Voicethat ran from '66 all the way through '84. Even non-gay people. 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. (158) 7.5 1 h 26 min 1985 13+. This was a highly unusual raid, going in there in the middle of the night with a full crowd, the Mafia hasn't been alerted, the Sixth Precinct hasn't been alerted. And so we had to create these spaces, mostly in the trucks. And we were singing: "We are the Village girls, we wear our hair in curls, we wear our dungarees, above our nellie knees." The award winning film Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free the dramatic story of the sometimes horrifying public and private existences experienced by gay and lesbian Americans since the 1920s. We ought to know, we've arrested all of them. Gay bars were always on side streets out of the way in neighborhoods that nobody would go into. Before Stonewall - Rotten Tomatoes Martin Boyce:It was thrilling. Newly restored for the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Before Stonewall pries open the . Raymond Castro:So then I got pushed back in, into the Stonewall by these plain clothes cops and they would not let me out, they didn't let anybody out. Before Stonewall 1984 Unrated 1 h 27 m IMDb RATING 7.5 /10 1.1K YOUR RATING Rate Play trailer 2:21 1 Video 7 Photos Documentary History The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. Dana Gaiser Ellinor Mitchell John DiGiacomo And the Village has a lot of people with children and they were offended. MacDonald & Associates Queer was very big. Narrator (Archival):This is one of the county's principal weekend gathering places for homosexuals, both male and female. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was a bottle club which meant that I guess you went to the door and you bought a membership or something for a buck and then you went in and then you could buy drinks.
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