As kids, we played King Kong. 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. [7] In 1989, it won the Festival's Plate at the Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. If that didn't work, they would do things like aversive conditioning, you know, show you pornography and then give you an electric shock. I never saw so many gay people dancing in my life. And if enough people broke through they would be killed and I would be killed. They call them hotels, motels, lovers' lanes, drive-in movie theaters, etc. Doing things like that. Andy Frielingsdorf, Reenactment Actors The New York State Liquor Authority refused to issue liquor licenses to many gay bars, and several popular establishments had licenses suspended or revoked for "indecent conduct.". The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States. I would wait until there was nobody left to be the girl and then I would be the girl. Things were just changing. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Yes, entrapment did exist, particularly in the subway system, in the bathrooms. So gay people were being strangled, shot, thrown in the river, blackmailed, fired from jobs. Greg Shea, Legal 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. WGBH Educational Foundation We knew it was a gay bar, we walked past it. Liz Davis Cause I was from the streets. It's very American to say, "You promised equality, you promised freedom." In a spontaneous show of support and frustration, the citys gay community rioted for three nights in the streets, an event that is considered the birth of the modern Gay Rights Movement. Martin Boyce:That was our only block. Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries Before Stonewall (1984) Movie Script | Subs like Script Brief Summary Of The Documentary 'Before Stonewall' | Bartleby Yvonne Ritter:"In drag," quote unquote, the downside was that you could get arrested, you could definitely get arrested if someone clocked you or someone spooked that you were not really what you appeared to be on the outside. It was not a place that, in my life, me and my friends paid much attention to. There was the Hippie movement, there was the Summer of Love, Martin Luther King, and all of these affected me terribly. People could take shots at us. We went, "Oh my God. WPA Film Library, Thanks to And that's what it was, it was a war. Virginia Apuzzo:What we felt in isolation was a growing sense of outrage and fury particularly because we looked around and saw so many avenues of rebellion. Jerry Hoose:The open gay people that hung out on the streets were basically the have-nothing-to-lose types, which I was. It was terrifying. That night, we printed a box, we had 5,000. I famously used the word "fag" in the lead sentence I said "the forces of faggotry." Fred Sargeant:The press did refer to it in very pejorative terms, as a night that the drag queens fought back. All the rules were off in the '60s. Because to be gay represented to me either very, super effeminate men or older men who hung out in the upper movie theatres on 42nd Street or in the subway T-rooms, who'd be masturbating. So I got into the subway, and on the car was somebody I recognized and he said, "I've never been so scared in my life," and I said, "Well, please let there be more than ten of us, just please let there be more than ten of us. The New York Times / Redux Pictures The mayor of New York City, the police commissioner, were under pressure to clean up the streets of any kind of quote unquote "weirdness." Before Stonewall (1984) - Plot Summary - IMDb I'm losing everything that I have. Stonewall Forever Explore the monument Watch the documentary Download the AR app About & FAQ Privacy Policy Joe DeCola On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided a Greenwich Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, setting off a three-day riot that launched the modern American gay rights movement. Jeremiah Hawkins Martin Boyce:In the early 60s, if you would go near Port Authority, there were tons of people coming in. 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. Chris Mara 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. You knew you could ruin them for life. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:We would scatter, ka-poom, every which way. I wanted to kill those cops for the anger I had in me. BEFORE STONEWALL - Alliance of Women Film Journalists kui There's a little door that slides open with this power-hungry nut behind that, you see this much of your eyes, and he sees that much of your face, and then he decides whether you're going to get in. In 1969 it was common for police officers to rough up a gay bar and ask for payoffs. So it was a perfect storm for the police. That was our world, that block. 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. I am not alone, there are other people that feel exactly the same way.". Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. 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. Every arrest and prosecution is a step in the education of the public to the solution of the problem. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:As much as I don't like to say it, there's a place for violence. 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 gay community. But the . Mike Wallace (Archival):Two out of three Americans look upon homosexuals with disgust, discomfort or fear. But, that's when we knew, we were ourselves for the first time. The Laramie Project Cast at The Calhoun School We didn't expect we'd ever get to Central Park. Then the cops come up and make use of what used to be called the bubble-gum machine, back then a cop car only had one light on the top that spun around. It's not my cup of tea. One was the 1845 statute that made it a crime in the state to masquerade. Clever. Maureen Jordan To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Awards, the film was shown at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016. Because that's what they were looking for, any excuse to try to bust the place. ABCNEWS VideoSource And I just didn't understand that. Because if they weren't there fast, I was worried that there was something going on that I didn't know about and they weren't gonna come. And the rest of your life will be a living hell. Fred Sargeant:Three articles of clothing had to be of your gender or you would be in violation of that law. Long before marriage equality, non-binary gender identity, and the flood of new documentaries commemorating this month's 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village uprising that begat the gay rights movement, there was Greta Schiller's Before Stonewall.Originally released in 1984as AIDS was slowly killing off many of those bar patrons-turned-revolutionariesthe film, through the use of . The Activism That Came Before Stonewall And The Movement That - NPR When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City on June 28, 1969, the street erupted into violent protests that lasted for the next six days. It was a real good sound to know that, you know, you had a lot of people out there pulling for you. Frank Kameny Fred Sargeant:Someone at this point had apparently gone down to the cigar stand on the corner and got lighter fluid. And a whole bunch of people who were in the paddy wagon ran out. Her most recent film, Bones of Contention, premiered in the 2016 Berlin International John O'Brien:In the Civil Rights Movement, we ran from the police, in the peace movement, we ran from the police. The last time I saw him, he was a walking vegetable. Danny Garvin:We became a people. I first engaged in such acts when I was 14 years old. And when you got a word, the word was homosexuality and you looked it up. And they were lucky that door was closed, they were very lucky. Activists had been working for change long before Stonewall. It eats you up inside not being comfortable with yourself. Before Stonewall | Apple TV Martin Boyce You know, it's just, everybody was there. Prisoner (Archival):I realize that, but the thing is that for life I'll be wrecked by this record, see? And Vito and I walked the rest of the whole thing with tears running down our face. 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. Raymond Castro:You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters and it was a good sound. Windows started to break. And they wore dark police uniforms and riot helmets and they had billy clubs and they had big plastic shields, like Roman army, and they actually formed a phalanx, and just marched down Christopher Street and kind of pushed us in front of them. My father said, "About time you fags rioted.". Stonewall Tscript | PDF | Homosexuality | Lgbt Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free dramatic stories from the early 1900's onwards of public and private existence as experienced by LGBT Americans. 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. And I had become very radicalized in that time. Linton Media I never believed in that. And the Village has a lot of people with children and they were offended. June 21, 2019 1:29 PM EDT. This, to a homosexual, is no choice at all. The Chicago riots, the Human Be-in, the dope smoking, the hippies. Martin Boyce:There were these two black, like, banjee guys, and they were saying, "What's goin' on man?" But after the uprising, polite requests for change turned into angry demands. The ones that came close you could see their faces in rage. But as we were going up 6th Avenue, it kept growing. Dana Kirchoff Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:The police would zero in on us because sometimes they would be in plain clothes, and sometimes they would even entrap. John O'Brien:They went for the head wounds, it wasn't just the back wounds and the leg wounds. Martha Babcock Lilli M. Vincenz They were supposed to be weak men, limp-wristed. Jerry Hoose:The bar itself was a toilet. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, activists rode their motorcycles during the city's 1989 gay-pride parade. Do you understand me?". So I attempted suicide by cutting my wrists. There was no going back now, there was no going back, there was no, we had discovered a power that we weren't even aware that we had. Stonewall: A riot that changed millions of lives - BBC News Dick Leitsch:And so the cops came with these buses, like five buses, and they all were full of tactical police force. A lot of them had been thrown out of their families. Before Stonewall - Letterboxd Martin Boyce:Well, in the front part of the bar would be like "A" gays, like regular gays, that didn't go in any kind of drag, didn't use the word "she," that type, but they were gay, a hundred percent gay. [7] In 1987, the film won Emmy Awards for Best Historical/Cultural Program and Best Research. Well, it was a nightmare for the lesbian or gay man who was arrested and caught up in this juggernaut, but it was also a nightmare for the lesbians or gay men who lived in the closet. If anybody should find out I was gay and would tell my mother, who was in a wheelchair, it would have broken my heart and she would have thought she did something wrong. And here they were lifting things up and fighting them and attacking them and beating them. Even non-gay people. We love to hear from our listeners! Jerry Hoose:I was afraid it was over. I have pondered this as "Before Stonewall," my first feature documentary, is back in cinemas after 35 years. 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. Jerry Hoose:Gay people who had good jobs, who had everything in life to lose, were starting to join in. 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 Fred Sargeant Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement. We assembled on Christopher Street at 6th Avenue, to march. And it was fantastic. You throw into that, that the Stonewall was raided the previous Tuesday night. 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. And then they send them out in the street and of course they did make arrests, because you know, there's all these guys who cruise around looking for drag queens. Dick Leitsch:Well, gay bars were the social centers of gay life. The film combined personal interviews, snapshots and home movies, together with historical footage. They would not always just arrest, they would many times use clubs and beat. Samual Murkofsky It was a down at a heels kind of place, it was a lot of street kids and things like that. Obama signed the memorandum to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. Danny Garvin:He's a faggot, he's a sissy, queer. There are a lot of kids here. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:This was the Rosa Parks moment, the time that gay people stood up and said no. TV Host (Archival):That's a very lovely dress too that you're wearing Simone. Diana Davies Photographs, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations Dick Leitsch:We wore suits and ties because we wanted people, in the public, who were wearing suits and ties, to identify with us. Eric Marcus, Writer:The Mattachine Society was the first gay rights organization, and they literally met in a space with the blinds drawn. There were occasions where you did see people get night-sticked, or disappear into a group of police and, you know, everybody knew that was not going to have a good end. You know. Over a short period of time, he will be unable to get sexually aroused to the pictures, and hopefully, he will be unable to get sexually aroused inside, in other settings as well. It meant nothing to us. Jerry Hoose:Who was gonna complain about a crackdown against gay people? You see these cops, like six or eight cops in drag. If you would like to read more on the topic, here's a list: Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and NPR One. hide caption. This is every year in New York City. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:They were sexual deviates. Sophie Cabott Black Noah Goldman ", Martin Boyce:People in the neighborhood, the most unlikely people were starting to support it. MacDonald & Associates Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:TheNew York TimesI guess printed a story, but it wasn't a major story. I was a man. Dan Martino Ed Koch, mayorof New York City from1978 to 1989, discussesgay civil rights in New York in the 1960s. Revealing and. The newly restored 1984 documentary "Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community," re-released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the seminal Stonewall riots, remains a . In the sexual area, in psychology, psychiatry. Stonewall Uprising | American Experience | PBS I mean, I came out in Central Park and other places. 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. You cut one head off. 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. The lights came on, it's like stop dancing. We were going to propose something that all groups could participate in and what we ended up producing was what's now known as the gay pride march. And it was those loudest people, the most vulnerable, the most likely to be arrested, were the ones that were doing the real fighting. American Airlines A word that would be used in the 1960s for gay men and lesbians. All kinds of designers, boxers, big museum people. Other images in this film are either recreations or drawn from events of the time. Danny Garvin:It was a chance to find love. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, activists rode their motorcycles during the city's 1989 gay-pride parade. From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. Doric Wilson:That's what happened Stonewall night to a lot of people. It was tremendous freedom. Available on Prime Video, Tubi TV, iTunes. "We're not going.". Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:A rather tough lesbian was busted in the bar and when she came out of the bar she was fighting the cops and trying to get away. Eventually something was bound to blow. Alexandra Meryash Nikolchev, On-Line Editors Alan Lechner Gay bars were always on side streets out of the way in neighborhoods that nobody would go into. Your choice, you can come in with us or you can stay out here with the crowd and report your stuff from out here. Mafia house beer? Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt National History Archive, LGBT Community Center Raymond Castro:New York City subways, parks, public bathrooms, you name it. They raided the Checkerboard, which was a very popular gay bar, a week before the Stonewall. Available via license: Content may be subject to . Patricia Yusah, Marketing and Communications Naturally, you get careless, you fall for it, and the next thing you know, you have silver bracelets on both arms. You know, Howard's concern was and my concern was that if all hell broke loose, they'd just start busting heads. But you live with it, you know, you're used to this, after the third time it happened, or, the third time you heard about it, that's the way the world is. Synopsis. Leroy S. Mobley Alfredo del Rio, Archival Still and Motion Images Courtesy of Before Stonewall, the activists wanted to fit into society and not rock the boat. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:Gay people who were sentenced to medical institutions because they were found to be sexual psychopaths, were subjected sometimes to sterilization, occasionally to castration, sometimes to medical procedures, such as lobotomies, which were felt by some doctors to cure homosexuality and other sexual diseases. 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. Alexis Charizopolis They would bang on the trucks. Transcript of Re-Release: The Stonewall | Happy Scribe But it was a refuge, it was a temporary refuge from the street. Beginning of our night out started early. Original Language: English. There was at least one gay bar that was run just as a hustler bar for straight gay married men. All of this stuff was just erupting like a -- as far as they were considered, like a gigantic boil on the butt of America.