before stonewall documentary transcript

I told the person at the door, I said "I'm 18 tonight" and he said to me, "you little SOB," he said. And if enough people broke through they would be killed and I would be killed. The only faces you will see are those of the arresting officers. People talk about being in and out now, there was no out, there was just in. Colonial House We had no speakers planned for the rally in Central Park, where we had hoped to get to. John O'Brien:In the Civil Rights Movement, we ran from the police, in the peace movement, we ran from the police. Barney Karpfinger And so we had to create these spaces, mostly in the trucks. That's what happened on June 28, but as people were released, the night took an unusual turn when protesters and police clashed. Diana Davies Photographs, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States. Chris Mara, Production Assistants Interviewer (Archival):Are you a homosexual? 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. Andy Frielingsdorf, Reenactment Actors Tom Caruso And so there was this drag queen standing on the corner, so they go up and make a sexual offer and they'd get busted. Danny Garvin:Something snapped. Slate:Activity Group Therapy (1950), Columbia University Educational Films. The music was great, cafes were good, you know, the coffee houses were good. And there was tear gas on Saturday night, right in front of the Stonewall. It was like a reward. 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. Leroy S. Mobley 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? You know, it's just, everybody was there. Dick Leitsch:There were Black Panthers and there were anti-war people. Alexis Charizopolis 'Cause I really realized that I was being trained as a straight person, so I could really fool these people. Narrator (Archival):Richard Enman, president of the Mattachine Society of Florida, whose goal is to legalize homosexuality between consenting adults, was a reluctant participant in tonight's program. Sophie Cabott Black 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. Martin Boyce:And then more police came, and it didn't stop. Martin Boyce:For me, there was no bar like the Stonewall, because the Stonewall was like the watering hole on the savannah. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:There were gay bars all over town, not just in Greenwich Village. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Our radio was cut off every time we got on the police radio. Richard Enman (Archival):Ye - well, that's yes and no. Alfredo del Rio, Archival Still and Motion Images Courtesy of We were winning. Tweet at us @throughlineNPR, send us an email, or leave us a voicemail at (872) 588-8805. J. Michael Grey John O'Brien:They went for the head wounds, it wasn't just the back wounds and the leg wounds. Like, "Joe, if you fire your gun without me saying your name and the words 'fire,' you will be walking a beat on Staten Island all alone on a lonely beach for the rest of your police career. Naturally, you get careless, you fall for it, and the next thing you know, you have silver bracelets on both arms. Synopsis. 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. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:We would scatter, ka-poom, every which way. Never, never, never. TV Host (Archival):And Sonia is that your own hair? I mean you got a major incident going on down there and I didn't see any TV cameras at all. "We're not going.". And the police were showing up. Today, that event is seen as the start of the gay civil rights movement, but gay activists and organizations were standing up to harassment and discrimination years before. For the first time the next person stood up. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:As much as I don't like to say it, there's a place for violence. It must have been terrifying for them. Gay bars were to gay people what churches were to blacks in the South. The groundbreaking 1984 film "Before Stonewall" introduced audiences to some of the key players and places that helped spark the Greenwich Village riots. 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." Slate:Boys Beware(1961) Public Service Announcement. 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. 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.". 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. Giles Kotcher William Eskridge, Professor of Law: The 1960s were dark ages for lesbians and gay men all over America. John O'Brien:There was one street called Christopher Street, where actually I could sit and talk to other gay people beyond just having sex. It meant nothing to us. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:Saturday night there it was. A CBS news public opinion survey indicates that sentiment is against permitting homosexual relationships between consenting adults without legal punishment. Saying I don't want to be this way, this is not the life I want. And the Stonewall was part of that system. Eventually something was bound to blow. Narrator (Archival):Do you want your son enticed into the world of homosexuals, or your daughter lured into lesbianism? WPA Film Library, Thanks to You cut one head off. You see these cops, like six or eight cops in drag. Calling 'em names, telling 'em how good-looking they were, grabbing their butts. Prisoner (Archival):I realize that, but the thing is that for life I'll be wrecked by this record, see? You were alone. You know. ", Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And he went to each man and said it by name. So I run down there. 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. I mean I'm talking like sardines. A medievalist. Stacker put together a timeline of LGBTQ+ history leading up to Stonewall, beginning with prehistoric events and ending in the late 1960s. I just thought you had to get through this, and I thought I could get through it, but you really had to be smart about it. First you gotta get past the door. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:A rather tough lesbian was busted in the bar and when she came out of the bar she was fighting the cops and trying to get away. 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. Mayor John Lindsay, like most mayors, wanted to get re-elected. So in every gay pride parade every year, Stonewall lives. That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. I wanted to kill those cops for the anger I had in me. Jerry Hoose:I mean the riot squad was used to riots. There's a little door that slides open with this power-hungry nut behind that, you see this much of your eyes, and he sees that much of your face, and then he decides whether you're going to get in. Quentin Heilbroner Narrator (Archival):This involves showing the gay man pictures of nude males and shocking him with a strong electric current. We did use humor to cover pain, frustration, anger. I'm losing everything that I have. The term like "authority figures" wasn't used back then, there was just "Lily Law," "Patty Pig," "Betty Badge." It's a history that people feel a huge sense of ownership over. June 21, 2019 1:29 PM EDT. Somehow being gay was the most terrible thing you could possibly be. Oddball Film + Video, San Francisco Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:They were sexual deviates. And she was quite crazy. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We were looking for secret exits and one of the policewomen was able to squirm through the window and they did find a way out. Samual Murkofsky Janice Flood 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 LGBT community. Because one out of three of you will turn queer. Dick Leitsch:Well, gay bars were the social centers of gay life. [2][3] Later in 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4][5][6]. The medical experimentation in Atascadero included administering, to gay people, a drug that simulated the experience of drowning; in other words, a pharmacological example of waterboarding. I guess they're deviates. The Stonewall had reopened. View in iTunes. Amber Hall And we were singing: "We are the Village girls, we wear our hair in curls, we wear our dungarees, above our nellie knees." Eric Marcus, Writer:The Mattachine Society was the first gay rights organization, and they literally met in a space with the blinds drawn. Gay people were told we didn't have any of that. Original Language: English. 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. All kinds of designers, boxers, big museum people. The Stonewall riots inspired gay Americans to fight for their rights. 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. The cops would hide behind the walls of the urinals. Susan Liberti 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. And there was like this tension in the air and it just like built and built. Available via license: Content may be subject to . I was proud. Jerry Hoose:And we were going fast. 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. We didn't want to come on, you know, wearing fuzzy sweaters and lipstick, you know, and being freaks. 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. In the sexual area, in psychology, psychiatry. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Awards, the film was shown at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016. Available on Prime Video, Tubi TV, iTunes. 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. 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. We were all there. MacDonald & Associates On this episode, the fight for gay rights before Stonewall. 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. Not able to do anything. And as I'm looking around to see what's going on, police cars, different things happening, it's getting bigger by the minute. You know, we wanted to be part of the mainstream society. The last time I saw him, he was a walking vegetable. The overwhelming number of medical authorities said that homosexuality was a mental defect, maybe even a form of psychopathy. The events. Finally, Mayor Lindsay listened to us and he announced that there would be no more police entrapment in New York City. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:I never bought a drink at the Stonewall. Dick Leitsch:You read about Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams and Gore Vidal and all these actors and stuff, Liberace and all these people running around doing all these things and then you came to New York and you found out, well maybe they're doing them but, you know, us middle-class homosexuals, we're getting busted all the time, every time we have a place to go, it gets raided. The Catholic Church, be damned to hell. And they wore dark police uniforms and riot helmets and they had billy clubs and they had big plastic shields, like Roman army, and they actually formed a phalanx, and just marched down Christopher Street and kind of pushed us in front of them. Here are my ID cards, you knew they were phonies. 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. 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. And, you know,The Village Voiceat that point started using the word "gay.". Martha Shelley It was done in our little street talk. It's the first time I'm fully inside the Stonewall. Because to be gay represented to me either very, super effeminate men or older men who hung out in the upper movie theatres on 42nd Street or in the subway T-rooms, who'd be masturbating. 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. But, that's when we knew, we were ourselves for the first time. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:I had been in some gay bars either for a story or gay friends would say, "Oh we're going to go in for a drink there, come on in, are you too uptight to go in?" From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. Yvonne Ritter:It's like people who are, you know, black people who are used to being mistreated, and going to the back of the bus and I guess this was sort of our going to the back of the bus. I first engaged in such acts when I was 14 years old. 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? Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Yes, entrapment did exist, particularly in the subway system, in the bathrooms. John O'Brien:I knew that the words that were being said to put down people, was about me. Yvonne Ritter:I had just turned 18 on June 27, 1969. 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. Danny Garvin:Bam, bam and bash and then an opening and then whoa. Windows started to break. Marc Aubin The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Well, I had to act like I wasn't nervous. Because its all right in the Village, but the minute we cross 14th street, if there's only ten of us, God knows what's going to happen to us.". 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. It was as if they were identifying a thing. Slate:In 1969, homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois. 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. Scott Kardel, Project Administration What Jimmy didn't know is that Ralph was sick. The Mafia owned the jukeboxes, they owned the cigarette machines and most of the liquor was off a truck hijacking. They pushed everybody like to the back room and slowly asking for IDs. 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. Martin Boyce:Mind you socks didn't count, so it was underwear, and undershirt, now the next thing was going to ruin the outfit. John O'Brien:And then somebody started a fire, they started with little lighters and matches. We don't know. And as awful as people might think that sounds, it's the way history has always worked. Martin Boyce Fifty years ago, a gay bar in New York City called The Stonewall Inn was raided by police, and what followed were days of rebellion where protesters and police clashed. Fred Sargeant:The effect of the Stonewall riot was to change the direction of the gay movement. 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. Raymond Castro:You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters and it was a good sound. Eric Marcus, Writer:It was incredibly hot. Dana Kirchoff 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. His movements are not characteristic of a real boy. Stonewall Forever Explore the monument Watch the documentary Download the AR app About & FAQ Privacy Policy Fred Sargeant:When it was clear that things were definitely over for the evening, we decided we needed to do something more. 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. That wasn't ours, it was borrowed. The documentary shows how homosexual people enjoyed and shared with each other. I said, "I can go in with you?" Clever. I made friends that first day. It was terrifying. He is not interested in, nor capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:The police would zero in on us because sometimes they would be in plain clothes, and sometimes they would even entrap. So it was a perfect storm for the police. A lot of them had been thrown out of their families. It eats you up inside not being comfortable with yourself. Abstract. One time, a bunch of us ran into somebody's car and locked the door and they smashed the windows in. But as visibility increased, the reactions of people increased. Fred Sargeant:Three articles of clothing had to be of your gender or you would be in violation of that law. This time they said, "We're not going." And so Howard said, "We've got police press passes upstairs." I mean does anyone know what that is? Directors Greta Schiller Robert Rosenberg (co-director) Stars Rita Mae Brown Maua Adele Ajanaku As president of the Mattachine Society in New York, I tried to negotiate with the police and the mayor. If that didn't work, they would do things like aversive conditioning, you know, show you pornography and then give you an electric shock. You gotta remember, the Stonewall bar was just down the street from there. And they were gay. Fred Sargeant:The press did refer to it in very pejorative terms, as a night that the drag queens fought back. I had never seen anything like that. But we couldn't hold out very long. Getty Images Evan Eames But the . NBC News Archives 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. Barak Goodman John DiGiacomo Newly restored for the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, Before Stonewall pries open the . John O'Brien:Whenever you see the cops, you would run away from them. Raymond Castro [7] In 1987, the film won Emmy Awards for Best Historical/Cultural Program and Best Research. A year earlier, young gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police near a bar called The Stonewall Inn.

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