Chris Mara, Production Assistants Dick Leitsch:And so the cops came with these buses, like five buses, and they all were full of tactical police force. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:What was so good about the Stonewall was that you could dance slow there. We didn't expect we'd ever get to Central Park. When we got dressed for that night, we had cocktails and we put the makeup on. Danny Garvin:It was the perfect time to be in the Village. And the police were showing up. Samual Murkofsky You had no place to try to find an identity. Many of those activists have since died, but Marcus preserved their voices for his book, titled Making Gay History. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:But there were little, tiny pin holes in the plywood windows, I'll call them the windows but they were plywood, and we could look out from there and every time I went over and looked out through one of those pin holes where he did, we were shocked at how big the crowd had become. They were to us. The Stonewall riots inspired gay Americans to fight for their rights. Jerry Hoose:I mean the riot squad was used to riots. 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. Mafia house beer? Before Stonewall - Trailer - YouTube Jorge Garcia-Spitz Doric Wilson:That's what happened Stonewall night to a lot of people. Jerry Hoose:I was chased down the street with billy clubs. (Enter your ZIP code for information on American Experience events and screening in your area.). Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:TheNew York TimesI guess printed a story, but it wasn't a major story. Documentary | Stonewall Forever Noah Goldman 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. Genre: Documentary, History, Drama. We could easily be hunted, that was a game. View in iTunes. That's what gave oxygen to the fire. But we went down to the trucks and there, people would have sex. 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. [1] To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 2019, the film was restored and re-released by First Run Features in June 2019. And these were meat trucks that in daytime were used by the meat industry for moving dead produce, and they really reeked, but at nighttime, that's where people went to have sex, you know, and there would be hundreds and hundreds of men having sex together in these trucks. by David Carter, Associate Producer and Advisor And she was quite crazy. This is every year in New York City. I met this guy and I broke down crying in his arms. Danny Garvin:We were talking about the revolution happening and we were walking up 7th Avenue and I was thinking it was either Black Panthers or the Young Lords were going to start it and we turned the corner from 7th Avenue onto Christopher Street and we saw the paddy wagon pull up there. Nobody. The Activism That Came Before Stonewall And The Movement That - NPR All of this stuff was just erupting like a -- as far as they were considered, like a gigantic boil on the butt of America. Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution I was never seduced by an older person or anything like that. And that, that was a very haunting issue for me. Abstract. 'Cause I really realized that I was being trained as a straight person, so I could really fool these people. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was getting worse and worse. 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. Fred Sargeant:The tactical patrol force on the second night came in even larger numbers, and were much more brutal. hide caption. I told the person at the door, I said "I'm 18 tonight" and he said to me, "you little SOB," he said. John O'Brien:They had increased their raids in the trucks. I was a man. Gay people were not powerful enough politically to prevent the clampdown and so you had a series of escalating skirmishes in 1969. [7] In 1989, it won the Festival's Plate at the Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. Franco Sacchi, Additional Animation and Effects 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. On June 27, 1969, police raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York. You know, all of a sudden, I had brothers and sisters, you know, which I didn't have before. Dick Leitsch:Well, gay bars were the social centers of gay life. 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. Oddball Film + Video, San Francisco Liz Davis Virginia Apuzzo: I grew up with that. Before Stonewall was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival. And as I'm looking around to see what's going on, police cars, different things happening, it's getting bigger by the minute. Available via license: Content may be subject to . 1984 documentary film by Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg, "Berlinale 2016: Panorama Celebrates Teddy Award's 30th Anniversary and Announces First Titles in Programme", "Guest Post: What I Learned From Revisiting My 1984 Documentary 'Before Stonewall', "See the 25 New Additions to the National Film Registry, From Purple Rain to Clerks", "Complete National Film Registry Listing", "Before Stonewall - Independent Historical Film", Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community (Newly Restored), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Before_Stonewall&oldid=1134540821, Documentary films about United States history, Historiography of LGBT in the United States, United States National Film Registry films, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 19 January 2023, at 05:30. It was fun to see fags. So it was a perfect storm for the police. In addition to interviews with activists and scholars, the film includes the reflections of renowned writer Allen Ginsberg. Original Language: English. Now, 50 years later, the film is back. A sickness of the mind. Jerry Hoose:Who was gonna complain about a crackdown against gay people? 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. People standing on cars, standing on garbage cans, screaming, yelling. Producers Library Jerry Hoose:And I got to the corner of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street, crossed the street and there I had found Nirvana. John O'Brien:Whenever you see the cops, you would run away from them. Fred Sargeant:The press did refer to it in very pejorative terms, as a night that the drag queens fought back. From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. 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. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It really should have been called Stonewall uprising. And that's what it was, it was a war. The very idea of being out, it was ludicrous. And there was like this tension in the air and it just like built and built. Somehow being gay was the most terrible thing you could possibly be. And you felt bad that you were part of this, when you knew they broke the law, but what kind of law was that? That was scary, very scary. And it would take maybe a half hour to clear the place out. The documentary shows how homosexual people enjoyed and shared with each other. We were scared. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:The federal government would fire you, school boards would fire you. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And I keep listening and listening and listening, hoping I'm gonna hear sirens any minute and I was very freaked. 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 . Before Stonewall - Wikipedia I didn't think I could have been any prettier than that night. Martin Boyce:We were like a Hydra. Dick Leitsch:New York State Liquor Authority had a rule that one known homosexual at a licensed premise made the place disorderly, so nobody would set up a place where we could meet because they were afraid that the cops would come in to close it, and that's how the Mafia got into the gay bar business. The cops were barricaded inside. Glenn Fukushima Gay people were never supposed to be threats to police officers. I mean you got a major incident going on down there and I didn't see any TV cameras at all. Diana Davies Photographs, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:All of a sudden, in the background I heard some police cars. Based on John O'Brien:And then somebody started a fire, they started with little lighters and matches. It was a real good sound to know that, you know, you had a lot of people out there pulling for you. Alfredo del Rio, Archival Still and Motion Images Courtesy of I mean I'm only 19 and this'll ruin me. Before Stonewall | Apple TV Martha Babcock It eats you up inside not being comfortable with yourself. Slate:Boys Beware(1961) Public Service Announcement. A word that would be used in the 1960s for gay men and lesbians. 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. It was a way to vent my anger at being repressed. It was the only time I was in a gladiatorial sport that I stood up in. In 1969 it was common for police officers to rough up a gay bar and ask for payoffs. Virginia Apuzzo:It was free but not quite free enough for us. And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble. The police weren't letting us dance. And a couple of 'em had pulled out their guns. They were supposed to be weak men, limp-wristed. Read a July 6, 1969excerpt fromTheNew York Daily News. The lights came on, it's like stop dancing. If there had been a riot of that proportion in Harlem, my God, you know, there'd have been cameras everywhere. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community (Newly At least if you had press, maybe your head wouldn't get busted. The award-winning documentary film, Before Stonewall, which was released theatrically and broadcast on PBS television in 1984, explored the history of the lesbian and gay rights movement in the United States prior to 1969. I mean does anyone know what that is? And they were having a meeting at town hall and there were 400 guys who showed up, and I think a couple of women, talking about these riots, 'cause everybody was really energized and upset and angry about it. Eric Marcus has spent years interviewing people who were there that night, as well as those who were pushing for gay rights before Stonewall. The Stonewall had reopened. Fred Sargeant:Someone at this point had apparently gone down to the cigar stand on the corner and got lighter fluid. Gay people were told we didn't have any of that. And Dick Leitsch, who was the head of the Mattachine Society said, "Who's in favor?" It was a 100% profit, I mean they were stealing the liquor, then watering it down, and they charging twice as much as they charged one door away at the 55. You needed a license even to be a beautician and that could be either denied or taken away from you. The ones that came close you could see their faces in rage. And I found them in the movie theatres, sitting there, next to them. I first engaged in such acts when I was 14 years old. John O'Brien:I was very anti-police, had many years already of activism against the forces of law and order. It is usually after the day at the beach that the real crime occurs. Other images in this film are either recreations or drawn from events of the time. Director . Heather Gude, Archival Research David Carter I made friends that first day. He may appear normal, and it may be too late when you discover he is mentally ill. John O'Brien:I was a poor, young gay person. Naturally, you get careless, you fall for it, and the next thing you know, you have silver bracelets on both arms. Jerry Hoose It was first released in 1984 with its American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and its European premiere at the Berlinale, followed by a successful theatrical release in many countries and a national broadcast on PBS. Danny Garvin:Everybody would just freeze or clam up. Transcript A gay rights march in New York in favor of the 1968 Civil Rights Act being amended to include gay rights. 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." Slate:The Homosexuals(1967), CBS Reports. And we all relaxed. 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 . And so we had to create these spaces, mostly in the trucks. Because one out of three of you will turn queer. 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?" It's a history that people feel a huge sense of ownership over. National History Archive, LGBT Community Center They put some people on the street right in front ofThe Village Voiceprotesting the use of the word fag in my story. Alexis Charizopolis Frank Kameny Fred Sargeant It was done in our little street talk. There may be some here today that will be homosexual in the future. 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. Dick Leitsch:We wore suits and ties because we wanted people, in the public, who were wearing suits and ties, to identify with us. Tweet at us @throughlineNPR, send us an email, or leave us a voicemail at (872) 588-8805. All the rules were off in the '60s. We were winning. The mayor of New York City, the police commissioner, were under pressure to clean up the streets of any kind of quote unquote "weirdness." WPA Film Library, Thanks to Mike Nuget As president of the Mattachine Society in New York, I tried to negotiate with the police and the mayor. And I said to myself, "Oh my God, this will not last.". J. Michael Grey I never saw so many gay people dancing in my life. Martin Boyce:For me, there was no bar like the Stonewall, because the Stonewall was like the watering hole on the savannah. The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. 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. He said, "Okay, let's go." Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:That night I'm in my office, I looked down the street, and I could see the Stonewall sign and I started to see some activity in front. First Run Features So you couldn't have a license to practice law, you couldn't be a licensed doctor. We didn't want to come on, you know, wearing fuzzy sweaters and lipstick, you know, and being freaks. Martin Boyce:It was thrilling. It was one of the things you did in New York, it was like the Barnum and Bailey aspect of it. Frank Simon's documentary follows the drag contestants of 1967's Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant, capturing plenty of on- and offstage drama along the way. The medical experimentation in Atascadero included administering, to gay people, a drug that simulated the experience of drowning; in other words, a pharmacological example of waterboarding. As kids, we played King Kong. The only faces you will see are those of the arresting officers. 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. Transcript Aired June 9, 2020 Stonewall Uprising The Year That Changed America Film Description When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of. But that's only partially true. Windows started to break. That never happened before. David Huggins 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. Homosexuals do not want that, you might find some fringe character someplace who says that that's what he wants. This was ours, here's where the Stonewall was, here's our Mecca. I just thought you had to get through this, and I thought I could get through it, but you really had to be smart about it. But as visibility increased, the reactions of people increased. William Eskridge, Professor of Law: The 1960s were dark ages for lesbians and gay men all over America. Danny Garvin:Bam, bam and bash and then an opening and then whoa. And if we catch you, involved with a homosexual, your parents are going to know about it first. Giles Kotcher 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. Absolutely, and many people who were not lucky, felt the cops. Leroy S. Mobley And when you got a word, the word was homosexuality and you looked it up. Slate:Activity Group Therapy (1950), Columbia University Educational Films. "BEFORE STONEWALL" - MetroFocus It was a leaflet that attacked the relationship of the police and the Mafia and the bars that we needed to see ended. Linton Media The Laramie Project Cast at The Calhoun School I say, I cannot tell this without tearing up. Once it started, once that genie was out of the bottle, it was never going to go back in. I have pondered this as "Before Stonewall," my first feature documentary, is back in cinemas after 35 years. Ellen Goosenberg Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We had maybe six people and by this time there were several thousand outside. Leaflets in the 60s were like the internet, today. I mean it didn't stop after that. Eric Marcus, Writer:It was incredibly hot. Doric Wilson John O'Brien:If a gay man is caught by the police and is identified as being involved in what they called lewd, immoral behavior, they would have their person's name, their age and many times their home address listed in the major newspapers. Before Stonewall. Other images in this film are It was a down at a heels kind of place, it was a lot of street kids and things like that. That night, the police ran from us, the lowliest of the low.