Friday Facts: History of 2SLGBTQ+ Rights
Posted on Friday, June 28th, 2019
As this is the last Friday of Pride Month, and I’m sure you noticed the Pride Flag flying over our campuses, I’ll let you know why June 27th is a significant day for the 2SLGBTQ+ community – It marks the date of the Stonewall Riots.
What Were the Stonewall Riots?
This event marks the birth of the gay rights movement. In the 1960s, gays and lesbians were effectively outlaws, living in secrecy and fear. They were labelled insane by doctors, immoral by religious leaders, unemployable by the government, predatory by TV broadcasts and criminal by police. At the time of the uprising, consensual sexual relations between men or between women were illegal in every US state except Illinois. Gay people could not work for the federal government or the military, and coming out would deny you a licence in many professions including law and medicine. Even what you wore was policed – fewer than three pieces of clothing deemed appropriate to your gender could put you in handcuffs.
There was no refuge for them in bars or nightclubs. The local liquor laws in New York City were interpreted in a way that meant serving alcohol to gays and lesbians could close down any licensed premises because that made the venue “disorderly”. Dancing with someone from the same sex could be interpreted as a “lewd” offence. Despite this, patrons of the Stonewall Inn regarded it as a sanctuary, a rare place for self-expression and affection. Uniquely, it had a dance floor.
According to reports, On June 27th, 1969, some of the lesbian customers were harassed and bullied by male police officers inside the Stonewall Inn bar. Then the mood outside changed when a lesbian who came out of the bar was handled roughly by police as they tried to put her in a car. And what began with cents and quarters being hurled at police, soon became stones and bottles. Riot police arrived to rescue their colleagues but the violence went on before it eventually subsided. At least one police officer was treated in hospital for a head wound and 13 demonstrators were arrested.
When Martha Shelley, 25, climbed on top of a water fountain in a park near Stonewall exactly one month after the riot, she feared for her life. But she had an important message to tell the crowd of a few hundred – come out of the shadows and “walk in the sunshine”. They all marched to Stonewall Inn, some wearing lavender-coloured sashes, holding hands and chanting “Gay Power!”. This was the first time gay people had openly marched in New York, demanding equality.
Toronto Bathhouse Raids – Canada’s Stonewall
On Feb. 4, 1981, police officers armed with crowbars and sledgehammers raided four city bathhouses and arrested more than 250 gay men in downtown Toronto. Law enforcement officials claimed the raids resulted from six months of undercover work into alleged sex work and other “indecent acts” at each establishment. Bathhouse patrons were subjected to excessive behaviour by police, including verbal taunts about their sexuality. When the night was over, 286 men were charged for being found in a common bawdy house (a brothel), while 20 were charged for operating a bawdy house. It was, up to that time, the largest single arrest in Toronto’s history. Most of those arrested were found innocent of the charges.
The raids marked a turning point for Toronto’s gay community, as the protests that followed indicated they would no longer endure derogatory treatment from the police, media and the public. The following evening, a midnight march protesting police brutality began at Yonge and Wellesley streets. Peaking at over 3,000 participants, the procession headed south to 52 Division police station on Dundas Street – protestors chanted messages such as “gay rights count”. On June 22, 2016, the gay community received an official apology from Toronto’s chief of police for that night. Sources: CBC news, the Canadian encyclopedia, BBC news.
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