The New York Daily News: Homo Nest Raided, Queen Bees Are Stinging Mad
She sat there with her legs crossed, the lashes of her mascara-coated eyes beating like the wings of a hummingbird. She was angry. She was so upset she hadn't bothered to shave. A day old stubble was beginning to push through the pancake makeup. She was a he. A queen of Christopher Street.
Last weekend the queens had turned commandos and stood bra strap to bra strap against an invasion of the helmeted Tactical Patrol Force. The elite police squad had shut down one of their private gay clubs, the Stonewall Inn at 57 Christopher St., in the heart of a three-block homosexual community in Greenwich Village. Queen Power reared its bleached blonde head in revolt. New York City experienced its first homosexual riot. "We may have lost the battle, sweets, but the war is far from over," lisped an unofficial lady-in-waiting from the court of the Queens.
"We've had all we can take from the Gestapo," the spokesman, or spokeswoman, continued. "We're putting our foot down once and for all." The foot wore a spiked heel. According to reports, the Stonewall Inn, a two-story structure with a sand painted brick and opaque glass facade, was a mecca for the homosexual element in the village who wanted nothing but a private little place where they could congregate, drink, dance and do whatever little girls do when they get together.
The thick glass shut out the outside world of the street. Inside, the Stonewall bathed in wild, bright psychedelic lights, while the patrons writhed to the sounds of a juke box on a square dance floor surrounded by booths and tables. The bar did a good business and the waiters, or waitresses, were always kept busy, as they snaked their way around the dancing customers to the booths and tables. For nearly two years, peace and tranquility reigned supreme for the Alice in Wonderland clientele.
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The article above describes something which happened 47 years ago and demonstrates how the GLBT community was referred to and reported on in the media. Forty-seven years ago, yesterday, June 28th, the modern American GLBT rights movement was birthed. It was a raid on the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. GLBT people finally had enough of police harassment and responded. We have come a long way in 47 years and we still have a ways to go.
We have seen tragedy from the most recent hate crime in Orlando two weeks ago on a GLBT nightclub, killing 49 and injuring 53 more to the scourge of AIDS and the failure of the US to respond with anything other than indifference, at best, and bigotry, at worst, even from the office of the US president. We have seen indifference and expectations of compromise to our civil rights struggle with legislation like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT) and the FDA restrictions on blood donations. But, we have also seen fantastic leaps forward in regards to our civil rights such as Lawrence_v._Texas which invalidated all sodomy laws in the US making sexual activity between people of the same sex legal and not subject to harassment for consensual sexual activity a privilege already enjoyed by non-gay people, and just one year ago, the Supreme Court granted marriage equality with Obergefell_v._Hodges.
There are still injustices and areas which need to be addressed to further our civil rights as citizens of the US. There are states where it is legal to fire people for being GLBT; states where it is legal to deny housing to LGBT people; states which do not record hate crimes against the GLBT (and we still rank as the third highest of victimized groups). There are places where people are actively trying to deny us rights we have already achieved, meaning we have to fight some of the same fights. Parental rights and adoption issues are also still contentious in many states and locales. Homophobia and heterosexism are still lurking about in media, public discourse, and legal areas.
We have come a long way, but the struggle continues and it all started with those brave individuals who finally said "NO MORE!" and stood up for their rights! There is a reason June is GLBT pride month, and it is because of the Stonewall Inn Riots; a place now made into a national monument, as of a few days ago. As June ends, it is important to know why this is pride month and this is why many of us, GLBT and our allies, march in June!
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Just an observation from straight grandma, about how attitudes like this coming from those in power (straight males) served to keep us all in our places from the time we were children on through our adulthood.
I say this because I could feel my hackles rise, my stomach churn -- every goddam word is a putdown of anyone who is not male, straight, adult, and needless to say, white.
Times have changed for the better -- not nearly enough yet, but they have changed. Thanks for this stark reminder.
Not likely
My brother in law was a heavy equipment operator for 30 years before he became Francine He also went to the worst school in our city for gangs of racist and gay bashing greasers So he learned how to fight really well In fact he was downright deadly when he was in his twenties
Francine lives in Puerto Vallarta now and has been mugged twice while there On poor perp ended up with three broken ribs and a deep hole in his foot from a spiked heel
She carries a can of mace and a three sided allan wrench I used on my bicycle
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Makes a handy ninja star puncture weapon that is not classed as a weapon but works
Transphobies be warned, be nice to the ladies if you don't want to get the shit kicked out of you by someone who has been abused all her life. The trannies I know can take a punch and bring it back just as hard
Dad was serving, and mom had two neighbors who'd been together 20 or so years; older, they weren't "eligible" to serve. So they helped the families of the men and women who did.
I was lucky - she raised us right.
