Stonewall Inn State Historic Site
Address
53 Christopher Street
New York, NY 10014
53 Christopher Street
New York, NY 10014
Latitude 40.73379
Longitude -74.0021
- General Information: (212) 668-2577
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The Stonewall Inn and the History of LGBTQ Rights
The Stonewall uprising of 1969 is one of the most consequential events in LGBTQ American history and the Stonewall Inn and its environs one of the most significant places. The uprising, also described as a riot or a rebellion, played out over the course of six nights from June 28 to July 3. The event was a turning point in the ongoing LGBTQ rights movement and sparked its growth in New York City, New York State, and across the nation. Shortly after, organizations and groups formed around the country to promote LGBTQ rights, and thousands of people became active in the movement.
The Stonewall Inn bar and the adjacent Greenwich Village neighborhood, including Christoper Park, are recognized as significant places in LGBTQ history. The building and surrounding area have accordingly been recognized as a historic place on the local, state, and federal levels. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places (1999), as a National Historic Landmark (2000), and a New York City Landmark (2015). It was also designated as a New York State Historic Site in 2016 and as a National Monument that same year.
Stonewall Inn's History as a Gay Bar in Greenwich Village
The two buildings that housed the Stonewall Inn, located at 51-53 Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City, was originally built as two separate stables in the mid-1800s and later combined into one building in 1930. In 1934, Bonnie's Stonewall Inn opened at the site and remained a popular Greenwich Village bar and restaurant until 1964. The Stonewall Inn opened in 1967 by Mafioso "Fat Tony" Lauria of the Genovese crime family as a "private" gay club to circumvent State Liquor Authority regulations.
From the end of Prohibition in 1934 to the early 1970s, gay bars in New York City—like the Stonewall Inn—operated with Mafia involvement. The end of Prohibition led to the creation of the New York State Liquor Authority, who regulated liquor licenses and prohibited the sale of alcohol in establishments considered "disorderly." Gay bars and clubs were routinely subjected to police raids because the presence of people today identified as LGBTQ made them de facto "disorderly." This formed a pattern of harassment of gay establishments within the city, and as a gay bar, the Stonewall was a site of frequent police raids.
The Stonewall Inn was not New York City's only gay bar in the late 1960s, nor was it an especially beloved establishment. An entry fee was required, the main bar had no running water, and there were no fire exits, but the Stonewall was one of few places in Greenwich Village where gay people could dance. In addition to two bar areas, Stonewall Inn had two dance floors, a jukebox, and a black-painted interior. The clientele was typically young and diverse, including white, Black, and Latino gay men, and a small number of transgender people and lesbians.
The Stonewall Uprising of 1969
In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by the New York City Police Department. Bar patrons took a stand against the raid, led by Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine, initiating a six-night rebellion.
What took place that first night? Several eyewitness accounts indicate the conflict began when a butch (masculine-presenting) woman, whose identity remains unknown, was mistreated by the police and cried out to the crowd to act. Patrons and police spilled from the bar out onto the street, inciting action from the people gathered outside. The uprising swelled, drawing in members of the local community and passersby, including homeless LGBTQ youth, trans people, lesbians, drag queens, gay men, and other residents of Greenwich Village and visitors. Estimates of the crowd size range from around 400 when the uprising began to between 1,500 and 2,000 once the riot police, who were called for reinforcement, arrived.
The crowd fought back as patrons were arrested, throwing objects and forcing the police to retreat into the bar. Because the rebellion arose spontaneously, eyewitness accounts from the first night differ on what exact actions started the conflict, or who threw the first punch or object at the police. It remains uncertain whether bricks were used, but rioters likely threw stones dislodged from tree pits in nearby Christopher Park.
The crowd was racially diverse, though primarily white. Notably, transgender women of color, including Marsha P. Johnson, were present. Johnson, who was an influential figure in the post-Stonewall LGBTQ movement, is sometimes credited with starting the riot by throwing a shot glass or brick. She later recounted, however, that she arrived after the uprising had begun. She and Black and Latinx homeless street youth were among those who led the charge against the police before others entered the fray.
The most intense clashes occurred on the first and final nights of the rebellion. For five nights, demonstrations continued outside the Stonewall Inn, in Christopher Park, and along streets adjacent to the bar. Those involved formed kick-lines and devised gay-inspired lyrics sung to the Howdy Doody Show theme song to poke fun at law enforcement. Protests continued through the morning of July 3, when crowds swelled to almost one thousand, before being dispersed.
Influence on LGBTQ Activism
The struggle for LGBTQ rights did not begin with the Stonewall Uprising, but the event propelled people to organize and vocalize their support for LGBTQ rights through increased activism. After Stonewall, there was a surge in the number of LGBTQ organizations and activists in New York City, New York State, and across the country. In addition, Stonewall initiated a radical phase of the ongoing LGBTQ rights movement known as Gay Liberation.
Organizations formed in New York City in the wake of the rebellion include Gay Liberation Front (GLF), Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), Radicalesbians, and Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). Organizations in other parts of New York State included the Mattachine Society of the Niagara Frontier in Buffalo, the Rochester Gay Liberation Front, the Cornell Gay Liberation Front in Ithaca, the Syracuse Gay Freedom League, and, in the Capital Region, the Tri Cities Gay Liberation Front (later known as the Capital District Gay Community Council).
Stonewall helped unite LGBTQ organizations and people across New York State in a common struggle for rights and liberation. The movement memorialized the Stonewall Uprising through the creation of the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, first held in June 1970, with sister marches in San Francisco and Los Angeles (the precursor to today's annual LGBTQ Pride parades). In March 1971, LGBTQ New Yorkers organized a march on Albany, the first march on a state capital for LGBTQ rights in the nation. In 1989, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the uprising, the section of Christopher Street in front of the Stonewall Inn was renamed Stonewall Place. The importance of Stonewall was further recognized with the installation of George Segal's sculpture Gay Liberation in Christopher Park in 1992.
Stonewall's Legacy
The Stonewall National Monument remains today an internationally recognized symbol of the past and current struggles of all members of the LGBTQ community and their allies.
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