How the Stonewall Riots shaped the history of LGBTQ+ rights

Brut India

On June 27, 1969, Fred Sargeant was in New York City, walking home with his partner. He passed the Stonewall Inn, and saw it surrounded by police. Here’s what happened next, and why it’s an important part of queer history. #PrideIndia

Transcript

00:00We knew that something was happening that night that hadn't happened before, and that

00:19was momentous.

00:20This was a moment for gay people to stand up to the authorities, and that this had changed

00:28everything.

00:39I had been out to dinner that night, and again, like I normally did, I'd walk past the stone

00:44wall on my way home, and my partner and I, Craig Rodwell, we were walking back, and we

00:50could see a crowd formed in front of the stone wall.

00:53We learned that there were people being held inside, and some people said that there had

00:57already been some violence committed by the police against some of the patrons.

01:01The crowd continued to grow, and now that things had been thrown, there was more violence

01:14expressed at that point.

01:19The police were trapped inside the building.

01:23They couldn't leave.

01:24They had to wait for reinforcements.

01:26When they came, that's when the riot really got underway.

01:53It said, get the cops and the mafia out of gay bars.

01:56There was quite a crowd, of course.

01:59When the nighttime came, the police responded, but this time they came with what was called

02:04then the Tactical Patrol Force, which was a specialized unit for dealing with riots.

02:14Their way of dealing with riots was basically to wait in and fight, so it created the second

02:21night of rioting.

02:37We had told the police, in applying for a permit, that we were going to have a march,

02:44and they said, well, you can only have a march if you have a permit.

02:46We said, no, we understand the permitting process, but you need to understand that we'll

02:51have a march whether you give us a permit or not.

03:14You worried?

03:16I think we'll succeed, but I think there's still a fight to come.

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