Originally posted Feb. 11, 2009. Reposted in honor of the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
I found a collection of images relating to gay and lesbian studies put together at Columbia University, including this scan of a NYT article on what came to be known as the Stonewall Riots, when crowds reacted violently when police attempted to raid a club on June 28, 1969 (skirmishes continued for several days):
Graffiti from the Stonewall Riots (published in the Village Voice):
There are also some other good photos unrelated to Stonewall such as this one, from 1962, of entertainers at a drag club being hauled off by police after a raid:
The database might be useful if you’re interested in what is generally seen as the start of the gay rights movement.
Comments 9
jeffrey — February 11, 2009
If people are interested in this topic/issue and would like a text to go along with it, I would recommend George Chauncey's "Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World." It is an exhaustively researched work that is both accessible and fascinating, much like the photos posted here.
genderkid — February 11, 2009
It's interesting how the NYT article only mentions "young men" rioting. All the accounts I've read state that there were at least a few trans women: the journalist probably considered they were men in dresses. I wonder whether modern newspapers would call them men, trans women or drag queens.
de eiz — August 30, 2018
Las dragas in Spanish... also happened here around 1979. Puerto Rico .
Evelynne — April 30, 2019
Don’t forget about the Tenderloin of San Francisco less well known but equally important for its importance of both human and GLBT rights on the West Coast. Worth researching, histories hidden footnotes.