This Day in History: , The Stonewall
Riots Begin.
June 28, 1969.
The riots are considered the
first major protest of the
LGBTQ community for equal rights.
They began after midnight
at the Stonewall Inn on
Christopher Street in
Greenwich Village.
Police raided the popular gay club for
operating without a liquor license.
After decades of being
targeted by the NYPD, the patrons began to
fight back by throwing bottles at police.
Several days of protests
followed, mobilizing into the
Gay Liberation Front and other
gay civil rights organizations.
The NYPD made a formal
apology for its role in the
riots — and for the laws
that led to them — in 2019