A sickness that was not visible like smallpox, but no less dangerous and contagious. That's what happened on June 28, but as people were released, the night took an unusual turn when protesters and police clashed. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We told this to our men. We didn't want to come on, you know, wearing fuzzy sweaters and lipstick, you know, and being freaks. Robin Haueter Before Stonewall (1984) - IMDb Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn has undergone several transformations in the decades since it was the focal point of a three-day riot in 1969. In the sexual area, in psychology, psychiatry. Many of those activists have since died, but Marcus preserved their voices for his book, titled Making Gay History. But the before section, I really wanted people to have a sense of what it felt like to be gay, lesbian, transgender, before Stonewall and before you have this mass civil rights movement that comes after Stonewall. Paul Bosche Not able to do anything. Before Stonewall 1984 Directed by Greta Schiller, Robert Rosenberg Synopsis New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. He said, "Okay, let's go." and someone would say, "Well, they're still fighting the police, let's go," and they went in. Revealing and, by turns, humorous and horrifying, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotional and political spark of today's gay rights movement - the events that . Leroy S. Mobley The homosexual, bitterly aware of his rejection, responds by going underground. I had never seen anything like that. I guess they're deviates. It was a leaflet that attacked the relationship of the police and the Mafia and the bars that we needed to see ended. So you couldn't have a license to practice law, you couldn't be a licensed doctor. It premiered at the 1984 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in the United States on June 27, 1985. Daily News Stacker put together a timeline of LGBTQ+ history leading up to Stonewall, beginning with prehistoric events and ending in the late 1960s. Danny Garvin:Bam, bam and bash and then an opening and then whoa. [00:00:58] Well, this I mean, this is a part of my own history in this weird, inchoate sense. And that crowd between Howard Johnson's and Mama's Chik-n-Rib was like the basic crowd of the gay community at that time in the Village. Sophie Cabott Black You cut one head off. Liz Davis Franco Sacchi, Additional Animation and Effects LGBTQ+ History Before Stonewall | Stacker Now, 50 years later, the film is back. I didn't think I could have been any prettier than that night. I mean, I came out in Central Park and other places. That this was normal stuff. And Dick Leitsch, who was the head of the Mattachine Society said, "Who's in favor?" And then as you turned into the other room with the jukebox, those were the drag queens around the jukebox. Revealing and often humorous, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotionally-charged sparking of today's gay rights movement . We knew that this was a moment that we didn't want to let slip past, because it was something that we could use to bring more of the groups together. Trevor, Post Production Alexandra Meryash Nikolchev, On-Line Editors (c) 2011 You see, Ralph was a homosexual. And I had become very radicalized in that time. Mike Wallace (Archival):Two out of three Americans look upon homosexuals with disgust, discomfort or fear. Meanwhile, there was crowds forming outside the Stonewall, wanting to know what was going on. Where did you buy it? Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:I never bought a drink at the Stonewall. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:The federal government would fire you, school boards would fire you. Jerry Hoose And so there was this drag queen standing on the corner, so they go up and make a sexual offer and they'd get busted. Richard Enman (Archival):Well, let me say, first of all, what type of laws we are not after, because there has been much to-do that the Society was in favor of the legalization of marriage between homosexuals, and the adoption of children, and such as that, and that is not at all factual at all. Martha Babcock "BEFORE STONEWALL" - MetroFocus Martin Boyce:There were these two black, like, banjee guys, and they were saying, "What's goin' on man?" Stonewall Tscript | PDF | Homosexuality | Lgbt Mike Wallace (Archival):The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous. First you gotta get past the door. Do you want them to lose all chance of a normal, happy, married life? Corbis Giles Kotcher Eric Marcus, Writer:It was incredibly hot. Martha Shelley:I don't know if you remember the Joan Baez song, "It isn't nice to block the doorway, it isn't nice to go to jail, there're nicer ways to do it but the nice ways always fail." And they were gay. The film combined personal interviews, snapshots and home movies, together with historical footage. We were scared. Remember everything. Genre: Documentary, History, Drama. Well, little did he know that what was gonna to happen later on was to make history. Dan Bodner They didn't know what they were walking into. John O'Brien:And deep down I believed because I was gay and couldn't speak out for my rights, was probably one of the reasons that I was so active in the Civil Rights Movement. People could take shots at us. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:What they did in the Stonewall that night. From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:The Stonewall, they didn't have a liquor license and they were raided by the cops regularly and there were pay-offs to the cops, it was awful. Danny Garvin:It was a chance to find love. We ought to know, we've arrested all of them. They were the storm troopers. Louis Mandelbaum And, I did not like parading around while all of these vacationers were standing there eating ice cream and looking at us like we were critters in a zoo. National Archives and Records Administration A year earlier, young gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police near a bar called The Stonewall Inn. It was as if they were identifying a thing. It is usually after the day at the beach that the real crime occurs. I hope it was. People talk about being in and out now, there was no out, there was just in. Fred Sargeant:In the '60s, I met Craig Rodwell who was running the Oscar Wilde Bookshop. Slate:Boys Beware(1961) Public Service Announcement. Dick Leitsch:And the blocks were small enough that we could run around the block and come in behind them before they got to the next corner. In an effort to avoid being anachronistic . Raymond Castro:Incendiary devices were being thrown in I don't think they were Molotov cocktails, but it was just fire being thrown in when the doors got open. Before Stonewall (1984) - Plot Summary - IMDb A CBS news public opinion survey indicates that sentiment is against permitting homosexual relationships between consenting adults without legal punishment. It was a way to vent my anger at being repressed. June 21, 2019 1:29 PM EDT. They call them hotels, motels, lovers' lanes, drive-in movie theaters, etc. Because that's what they were looking for, any excuse to try to bust the place. William Eskridge, Professor of Law: The 1960s were dark ages for lesbians and gay men all over America. Danny Garvin:And the cops just charged them. This 19-year-old serviceman left his girlfriend on the beach to go to a men's room in a park nearby where he knew that he could find a homosexual contact. For those kisses. Producers Library I would get in the back of the car and they would say, "We're going to go see faggots." Susana Fernandes John O'Brien:Heterosexuals, legally, had lots of sexual outlets. They would bang on the trucks. TV Host (Archival):That's a very lovely dress too that you're wearing Simone. Dick Leitsch:There were Black Panthers and there were anti-war people. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We had maybe six people and by this time there were several thousand outside. I first engaged in such acts when I was 14 years old. Janice Flood This was the first time I could actually sense, not only see them fearful, I could sense them fearful. Martin Boyce:It was thrilling. Narrator (Archival):We arrested homosexuals who committed their lewd acts in public places. Before Stonewall 1984 Unrated 1 h 27 m IMDb RATING 7.5 /10 1.1K YOUR RATING Rate Play trailer 2:21 1 Video 7 Photos Documentary History The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. TV Host (Archival):Ladies and gentlemen, the reason for using first names only forthese very, very charming contestants is that right now each one of them is breaking the law. Just making their lives miserable for once. And a couple of 'em had pulled out their guns. And there was like this tension in the air and it just like built and built. Danny Garvin:We had thought of women's rights, we had thought of black rights, all kinds of human rights, but we never thought of gay rights, and whenever we got kicked out of a bar before, we never came together. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It really should have been called Stonewall uprising. Alexis Charizopolis And there, we weren't allowed to be alone, the police would raid us still. Joe DeCola The events of that night have been described as the birth of the gay-rights movement. They'd think I'm a cop even though I had a big Jew-fro haircut and a big handlebar mustache at the time. Narrator (Archival):Richard Enman, president of the Mattachine Society of Florida, whose goal is to legalize homosexuality between consenting adults, was a reluctant participant in tonight's program. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was a bottle club which meant that I guess you went to the door and you bought a membership or something for a buck and then you went in and then you could buy drinks. Homosexuals do not want that, you might find some fringe character someplace who says that that's what he wants. Danny Garvin:He's a faggot, he's a sissy, queer. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:The moment you stepped out that door there would be hundreds facing you. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was getting worse and worse. Charles Harris, Transcriptions They are taught that no man is born homosexual and many psychiatrists now believe that homosexuality begins to form in the first three years of life. Jerry Hoose:I remember I was in a paddy wagon one time on the way to jail, we were all locked up together on a chain in the paddy wagon and the paddy wagon stopped for a red light or something and one of the queens said "Oh, this is my stop." But we had to follow up, we couldn't just let that be a blip that disappeared. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We were looking for secret exits and one of the policewomen was able to squirm through the window and they did find a way out. Ed Koch, mayorof New York City from1978 to 1989, discussesgay civil rights in New York in the 1960s. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:They started busting cans of tear gas. Somehow being gay was the most terrible thing you could possibly be. I was wearing my mother's black and white cocktail dress that was empire-waisted. But everybody knew it wasn't normal stuff and everyone was on edge and that was the worst part of it because you knew they were on edge and you knew that the first shot that was fired meant all the shots would be fired. And some people came out, being very dramatic, throwing their arms up in a V, you know, the victory sign. Read a July 6, 1969excerpt fromTheNew York Daily News. John van Hoesen John O'Brien:Cops got hurt. Never, never, never. So it was a perfect storm for the police. We'd say, "Here comes Lillian.". Martha Shelley:Before Stonewall, the homophile movement was essentially the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis and all of these other little gay organizations, some of which were just two people and a mimeograph machine. And today we're talking about Stonewall, which were both pretty anxious about so anxious. And the rest of your life will be a living hell. And if enough people broke through they would be killed and I would be killed. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:In states like New York, there were a whole basket of crimes that gay people could be charged with. That wasn't ours, it was borrowed. All I knew about was that I heard that there were people down in Times Square who were gay and that's where I went to. The film brings together voices from over 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement to explore queer activism before, during and after the Stonewall Riots. That's it. A sickness of the mind. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:TheNew York TimesI guess printed a story, but it wasn't a major story. The Laramie Project Cast at The Calhoun School Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! Yvonne Ritter:And then everybody started to throw pennies like, you know, this is what they were, they were nothing but copper, coppers, that's what they were worth. Before Stonewall (1984) - full transcript New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. I really thought that, you know, we did it. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:Those of us that were the street kids we didn't think much about the past or the future. Linton Media Before Stonewall, the activists wanted to fit into society and not rock the boat. We didn't necessarily know where we were going yet, you know, what organizations we were going to be or how things would go, but we became something I, as a person, could all of a sudden grab onto, that I couldn't grab onto when I'd go to a subway T-room as a kid, or a 42nd street movie theater, you know, or being picked up by some dirty old man. David Carter Some of the pre-Stonewall uprisings included: Black Cat Raid, Los Angeles, California, 1967 Black Night Brawl, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 5, 1961. My last name being Garvin, I'd be called Danny Gay-vin. Revisiting the newly restored "Before Stonewall" 35 years after its premiere, Rosenberg said he was once again struck by its "powerful" and "acutely relevant" narrative. It was tremendous freedom. They were afraid that the FBI was following them. Slate:Activity Group Therapy (1950), Columbia University Educational Films. And it just seemed like, fantastic because the background was this industrial, becoming an industrial ruin, it was a masculine setting, it was a whole world. In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's LGBT community. Martin Boyce:I heard about the trucks, which to me was fascinated me, you know, it had an imagination thing that was like Marseilles, how can it only be a few blocks away? If that didn't work, they would do things like aversive conditioning, you know, show you pornography and then give you an electric shock. Then during lunch, Ralph showed him some pornographic pictures. John O'Brien:All of a sudden, the police faced something they had never seen before. Revisiting 'Before Stonewall' Film for the 50th Anniversary | Time This book, and the related documentary film, use oral histories to present students with a varied view of lesbian and gay experience. The ones that came close you could see their faces in rage. I say, I cannot tell this without tearing up. When you exit, have some identification and it'll be over in a short time." We were all there. All kinds of designers, boxers, big museum people. Mafia house beer? I mean does anyone know what that is? Martin Boyce:Oh, Miss New Orleans, she wouldn't be stopped. Today, that event is seen as the start of the gay civil rights movement, but gay activists and organizations were standing up to harassment and discrimination years before. That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:All throughout the 60s in New York City, the period when the New York World's Fair was attracting visitors from all over America and all over the world. They really were objecting to how they were being treated. Slate:The Homosexual(1967), CBS Reports. There may be some girls here who will turn lesbian. John O'Brien:We had no idea we were gonna finish the march. Raymond Castro:Society expected you to, you know, grow up, get married, have kids, which is what a lot of people did to satisfy their parents. And the Stonewall was part of that system. The Catholic Church, be damned to hell. Lauren Noyes. You had no place to try to find an identity. I went in there and they took bats and just busted that place up. Mike Nuget Dick Leitsch:Well, gay bars were the social centers of gay life. 'Cause I really realized that I was being trained as a straight person, so I could really fool these people. Before Stonewall. It was narrated by author Rita Mae Brown, directed by Greta Schiller, co-directed by Robert Rosenberg, and co-produced by John Scagliotti and Rosenberg, and Schiller. Activists had been working for change long before Stonewall. But it was a refuge, it was a temporary refuge from the street. Martin Boyce:It was another great step forward in the story of human rights, that's what it was. Yvonne Ritter:It's like people who are, you know, black people who are used to being mistreated, and going to the back of the bus and I guess this was sort of our going to the back of the bus. And when she grabbed that everybody knew she couldn't do it alone so all the other queens, Congo Woman, queens like that started and they were hitting that door. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:I had been in some gay bars either for a story or gay friends would say, "Oh we're going to go in for a drink there, come on in, are you too uptight to go in?" The severity of the punishment varies from state to state. Martha Shelley:The riot could have been buried, it could have been a few days in the local newspaper and that was that. All of this stuff was just erupting like a -- as far as they were considered, like a gigantic boil on the butt of America. Fred Sargeant Beginning of our night out started early. Participants of the 1969 Greenwich Village uprising describe the effect that Stonewall had on their lives. Original Language: English. Your choice, you can come in with us or you can stay out here with the crowd and report your stuff from out here. They could be judges, lawyers. Before Stonewall : Throughline : NPR Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And by the time the police would come back towards Stonewall, that crowd had gone all the around Washington Place come all the way back around and were back pushing in on them from the other direction and the police would wonder, "These are the same people or different people?". And I knew that I was lesbian. But I gave it up about, oh I forget, some years ago, over four years ago. You needed a license even to be a beautician and that could be either denied or taken away from you. It's not my cup of tea. Gay people were never supposed to be threats to police officers. The Underground Lounge Saying I don't want to be this way, this is not the life I want. Atascadero was known in gay circles as the Dachau for queers, and appropriately so. But, that's when we knew, we were ourselves for the first time. It's like, this is not right. Director . Geordie, Liam and Theo Gude BBC Worldwide Americas In 1999, producer Scagliotti directed a companion piece, After Stonewall. Why 'Before Stonewall' Was Such a Hard Movie to Make - The Atlantic It was as if an artist had arranged it, it was beautiful, it was like mica, it was like the streets we fought on were strewn with diamonds. Jerry Hoose:The bar itself was a toilet. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble. People cheer while standing in front of The Stonewall Inn as the annual Gay Pride parade passes, Sunday, June 26, 2011 in New York. Chris Mara, Production Assistants Jerry Hoose:I was afraid it was over. It eats you up inside. Transcript of Re-Release: The Stonewall | Happy Scribe One was the 1845 statute that made it a crime in the state to masquerade. But the . Danny Garvin:With Waverly Street coming in there, West Fourth coming in there, Seventh Avenue coming in there, Christopher Street coming in there, there was no way to contain us. Doric Wilson:Somebody that I knew that was older than me, his family had him sent off where they go up and damage the frontal part of the brain. Once it started, once that genie was out of the bottle, it was never going to go back in. I grew up in a very Catholic household and the conflict of issues of redemption, of is it possible that if you are this thing called homosexual, is it possible to be redeemed? Raymond Castro:There were mesh garbage cans being lit up on fire and being thrown at the police. Things were just changing. Suzanne Poli Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community is a 1984 American documentary film about the LGBT community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots. It was nonsense, it was nonsense, it was all the people there, that were reacting and opposing what was occurring. They frequent their own clubs, and bars and coffee houses, where they can escape the disapproving eye of the society that they call straight. You know, Howard's concern was and my concern was that if all hell broke loose, they'd just start busting heads. One never knows when the homosexual is about. Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen Gay History Papers and Photographs, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Gay rights, like the rights of blacks, were constantly under attack and while blacks were protected by constitutional amendments coming out of the Civil War, gays were not protected by law and certainly not the Constitution. A person marching in a gay rights parade along New York's Fifth Avenue on July 7th, 1979. The Activism That Came Before Stonewall And The Movement That - NPR Naturally, you get careless, you fall for it, and the next thing you know, you have silver bracelets on both arms. I said, "I can go in with you?" I have pondered this as "Before Stonewall," my first feature documentary, is back in cinemas after 35 years. Slate:In 1969, homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois. Jerry Hoose:Who was gonna complain about a crackdown against gay people? Doric Wilson:When I was very young, one of the terms for gay people was twilight people, meaning that we never came out until twilight, 'til it got dark. This was in front of the police. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world. Oh, tell me about your anxiety. Transcript A gay rights march in New York in favor of the 1968 Civil Rights Act being amended to include gay rights. John O'Brien:It was definitely dark, it was definitely smelly and raunchy and dirty and that's the only places that we had to meet each other, was in the very dirty, despicable places. And, you know,The Village Voiceat that point started using the word "gay.". Martha Shelley:They wanted to fit into American society the way it was. Martin Boyce:And I remember moving into the open space and grabbing onto two of my friends and we started singing and doing a kick line. And I found them in the movie theatres, sitting there, next to them. Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. And the police were showing up. Raymond Castro:So finally when they started taking me out, arm in arm up to the paddy wagon, I jumped up and I put one foot on one side, one foot on the other and I sprung back, knocking the two arresting officers, knocking them to the ground.