Story 5

Diversity and tolerance is a very hot topic in the modern world that attracts all kinds of people with differing views. That could at least been implied from the people in attendance to a showing of the PBS documentary about the Stonewall uprising.

For those who do not know, the Stonewall uprising was a two day long riot in the early 1960’s, where the gay community rioted after a police raid of the Stonewall bar in Greenwich Village, New York. The riot was largely a response to brutal police tactics that had been used up to this point against gays and a showing of anger due to the poor treatment they had received from society at large. In the 1960’s being gay was still seen as a mental illness that someone could as to another and was largely assorted with pedophiles and other heavily disliked groups in society. Police and vandals tended to see gays as easy targets and would attack them for fun knowing that it was unlikely that they would be reported.

The Stonewall itself was a mafia run gay bar. At the time the mafia controlled most of the gay social centers due to cities not giving any type of business license to anyone who was openly gay or wanted to target a gay demographic. Criminals, the mafia especially, on the other hand saw only dollar signs and allowed some their buildings to be converted into bars and clubs for gays to socialize in with high rent and inflated drinks. This criminal connection gave the police even more reason to raid the establishments.

The” uprising” occurred when occurred when the police attempted to raid the Stonewall and rather than accepting their arrest many patrons fought back. This lead to a reverse of the situation that left the police blockaded inside the bar with reporters for protection and the masses rioting and destroying nearby property outside. The situation was somewhat brought down when riot police arrived and scared off or arrested many of the people but the violence continued for a few more days in isolated cases. Many gay rights supports also had an impromptu march to Central Park the day after the riot and were not harassed by police for fear of a second riot.

The documentary showing attracted around 25 people at its height although many showed up late. The crowd was fairly mixed with many different kinds of people. The crowd thinned near the ending of the film leaving only around ten (including the reporter). The crowd also dispersed before any discussion could be had. This largely gave the feeling that most were there for extra credit or as work for a class. This seemed to disappoint the presenters who did seem to want to have some type of organized discussion but the general crowd seemed to have other things to do. Still the documentary provided insight on a less remember moment that some consider one the biggest moment in the race for gay rights and gay acceptance.