US History

Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)

Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)

Social Movements

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Stonewall Riots and their impact on the Gay Liberation Movement.

Teaching Guide: Exploring Stonewall and the Gay Liberation Movement

An excerpt from a 1958 radio program discussing gay people in the US.

A letter from Phil Johnson to Circle of Friends board members outlining the history of the organization.

A photograph of the window of the Stonewall Inn in New York City, 1969.

A photograph of the Gay Liberation Front picketing Time, Inc., in 1969.

The Gay Liberation Front platform statement, December 2, 1970.

A photograph of Gay Liberation Front members at a demonstration with a poster saying “Sappho was a right-on woman.”

A radio interview with a lesbian named Chris about her identity and politics, 1972.

An excerpt from a 1978 debate about California Proposition 6, an effort to ban gay men and women from working in California public schools.

A 1985 letter from Don Baker, a gay rights activist, to Dallas City Councilwoman Lori Palmer regarding gay rights.

A Stonewall GLBT button.

A 1990 press release announcing that black leaders had met to “discuss lesbian/gay issues.”

A pamphlet for the twentieth anniversary of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 1994.

Excerpts from a 2000 research article titled “Changing Social Attitudes in the United States: Increasing Acceptance of Homosexuals.”

A 2011 article about the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York State.

A 2014 article about the National Park Service’s decision to commemorate significant sites from LGBT history.

Resources

1. Garance Franke-Ruta, “[An Amazing 1969 Account of the Stonewall Uprising](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/an-amazing-1969-account-of-the-stonewall-uprising/272467/),” *The Atlantic*. 
2. “[Joyce DiDonato Takes a Stand at Stonewall](http://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2016/06/14/joyce-didonato-takes-a-stand-at-stonewall),” Minnesota Public Radio. 
3. Wesley Chenault, “[Atlanta Since Stonewall, 1969-2009](http://outhistory.org/exhibits/show/atlanta-since-stonewall),” Outhistory.org. 
4. [LGBTQ Heritage](https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/lgbtqheritage.htm), National Park Service. 

Overview

In the summer of 1969, as part of Mayor John Lindsey’s crackdown on gay bars, New York City police detectives conducted a routine raid on Stonewall Inn. The violent response of Stonewall Inn’s patrons, as well as subsequent riots and protests, marked a shift in LGBT activism that rippled through the decades following and impacted the gay rights and gay liberation movements in the United States.
 
The raid happened on Saturday, June 28, 1969, in the early morning hours. Faced with arrest, patrons fought back. Following media coverage of the event in the mainstream press and gay news outlets, thousands protested and clashed with riot police over the next six days. The aftermath of the Stonewall riots saw an explosion in gay movement organization, pride, and political activism.
 
The gay liberation movement of the 1970s was part of that explosion. It built on the foundation laid in the 1950s and 1960s by gay organizations such as the Mattachine Society, Janus Society, and the Daughters of Bilitis, and it took advantage of the existing political networks of Black Power, New Left, anti-war, women’s liberation, and youth counterculture. Activists within the gay liberation movement established several national organizations still in existence today, including the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (now the National LGBTQ Task Force), the Log Cabin Republicans, and Lambda Legal.
 
This set uses primary sources to explore the events preceding and surrounding the Stonewall Inn riots as well as the aftermath of the riots in the gay liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. These sources demonstrate the continuing influence of Stonewall on America’s LGBTQ community, the civil rights movement, and American politics in general. 

English

Stonewall and Its Impact on the Gay Liberation Movement

stonewall_04_b29570800390f8729e05b2bd7af9178c.jpg

Davies, Diana, “Gay Liberation Front pickets Time, Inc. [5],” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/b29570800390f8729e05b2bd7af9178c.

This picture, taken by photojournalist Diana Davies, shows two lesbian women picketing in front of the Time-Life Building in New York City as part of a Gay Liberation Front protest. One woman holds a sign stating “I am a human being.” The second woman’s sign is partially blocked. It reads, “Time, Inc. Don’t dictate morality.” The Gay Liberation Front fought for civil rights for gay people and protested racism and capitalism. They also criticized the institution of marriage and the traditional family. The GLF was part of an activist movement that rejected those 1950s homophile movements that still allowed gay people to be classified as defective morally or medically. 

A photograph of the Gay Liberation Front picketing Time, Inc., in 1969.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 4 of 15 in the Primary Source Set Stonewall and Its Impact on the Gay Liberation Movement