Stonewall by Ann Bausum

Author:Ann Bausum
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2015-03-31T16:00:00+00:00

Young gays gather on the steps of a Christopher Street building near the Stonewall Inn the evening after the bar’s pre-dawn raid.

CHAPTER 7

THE AWAKENING

“I thought, my God, we’re going to pay so desperately for this, there was glass all over. But the next day we didn’t pay. My father called and congratulated me. He said, ‘What took you so long?’”

—MARTIN BOYCE,

recollecting the morning

after the Stonewall riots

REMARKABLY, THE DAY THAT FOLLOWED THE STONEWALL riots did not mark the end for the Stonewall Inn. Before dark that Saturday night, it had already reopened, albeit without the service of alcohol. Nor did the light of day dampen the sentiments that had been stirred up by the riots of the previous evening. Individuals who had witnessed or participated in the unrest began spreading the word to those who had missed it. Many locals who heard the news traveled to the West Village so they could see the destruction for themselves. Trash bins with charred refuse and sparkling glass shards confirmed the scope of the previous night’s rage.

Two themes quickly emerged within the gay community. Older and more traditional figures were generally unsettled by news of the public protests. These individuals tended to be more closeted and risked losing their jobs and livelihoods if their sexual orientations were disclosed. Plus, older gays had for decades been reminded by straight society that same-sex attraction was a mental illness, something to wrestle with and hide, not something worthy of pride and respect. Rioting in the streets? Challenging the police? Blatant displays of queen-inspired camp? The whole idea was beyond shocking.

Younger gays and participants in the Stonewall riot felt shocked, too, but at the other end of the spectrum. Overnight they went from being isolated, angry individuals to becoming members of the same extended family. These gays realized, “Oh my God. I am not alone. There are other people that feel exactly the same way,” explained Doric Wilson. “We became a people,” observed Danny Garvin. “All of a sudden, I had brothers and sisters.” What was more, members of this newfound community had tasted freedom and equality. After Friday night’s quest for liberation and self-expression, there was no turning back. Even the police and other straights were having epiphanies. “People are beginning to realize,” the doorman of the Stonewall Inn observed a few days after the riot, “that no matter how ‘nelly’ or how ‘fem’ a homosexual is, you can only push them so far.”

Craig Rodwell had been waiting for years for the spark that would ignite a widespread gay rights movement, and he recognized immediately that the riots on Christopher Street could be that catalyst. Rodwell, working with his partner Fred Sargeant, seized the day. “We knew that this was a moment that we didn’t want to let slip past.” All those years of organizing and protest meant that Rodwell knew exactly what he needed to capitalize on the energy of the moment. He needed a leaflet.

Before the era of Facebook and Twitter and before the photocopy machine was common, the best way to spread news quickly was by publishing a leaflet.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.