Stonewall Uprising - Monday at 9 PM Eastern PBS

[csziggy]

Introduction: Stonewall Uprising

In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Such raids were not unusual in the late 1960s, an era when homosexual sex was illegal in every state but Illinois. That night, however, the street erupted into violent protests and demonstrations that lasted for the next three days. 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.

In the late 1960s, the American Psychiatric Association still classified homosexuality as a mental disorder, and gay men and lesbian women received almost universal moral condemnation from mainstream religions. The act of homosexual sex, even in private homes, was punishable by a light fine, 20 years in prison, or even a life sentence.

New York City had the largest gay population in the United States. It was also the city that most aggressively upheld anti-sodomy laws. In the mid-1960s New York created police vice squads to raid gay bars and baths, and began using decoys to solicit and entrap gays. By 1966 over 100 men a week were arrested as a result of this effort. "It was a nightmare for the lesbian or gay man who was arrested and caught up in the juggernaut but it was also a nightmare for the lesbians or gay men who lived in the closet," Yale Law School professor William Eskridge says in the film. "This produced an enormous amount of anger within the lesbian and gay community in New York City. Eventually something was bound to blow."

More: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/introduction/stonewall-intro/

Trailer - Stonewall Uprising Preview: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/trailer/stonewall-trailer/ (The video did not work for me in Firefox, did work in Internet Explorer.)

[dsc]

1. just got done watching it

great film. Hard for me to believe that in my life time being gay was actually like that.

[FreeState]

2. In many ways the riot did not end in three days

It has continued until this day and will unit lfull equality is reached for all LGBT persons.

K&R

[csziggy]

3. Agreed - and I am glad PBS / American Experience is showing this

It is probably that PBS is willing to remember our history - ALL of it, not just the parts we want to remember - why the GOP wants to cut their funding.