In 1969 homosexual acts were illegal in every US state except Illinois. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and police departments kept lists of known homosexuals, where homosexuals visited, their friends; the U.S. Post Office kept track of addresses where homosexual material was posted. State and local governments monitored and shut down bars catering to homosexuals and their customers were arrested and exposed in newspapers. Cities performed "sweeps" to rid neighborhoods, parks, bars, and beaches of gays. They outlawed the wearing of opposite gender clothes, and universities expelled lecturers suspected of being homosexual. Thousands of gay men and women were publicly humiliated, physically harassed, fired, jailed, or institutionalized in mental hospitals. In 1952, the American Psychiatric Association listed homosexuality in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as a sociopathic personality disturbance.

When Senator Joseph McCarthy conducted hearings searching for communists in the U.S. government (HUAC), the U.S. Army, and other government-funded agencies and institutions, Anarchists, communists, and other people deemed un-American and subversive were considered security risks. Homosexuals were included in this list by the U.S. State Department in 1950, on the theory that they were prone to blackmail. Between 1947 and 1950, 1,700 federal job applications were denied, 4,380 people were discharged from the military, and 420 were fired from their government jobs for being suspected homosexuals. On May 22, 1967, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which among other things banned the entry of homosexuals into the USA, as constitutional. This ban remained in effect until 1991. Early homophile groups in the U.S. sought to prove that gay people could be assimilated into society, and they favored non-confrontational education for homosexuals and heterosexuals alike. The last years of the 1960s however were a time of change, as many social movements were active, including the Black Civil Rights Movement, the Counterculture of the 1960s, and anti-Vietnam war demonstrations.

The Stonewall Riots - 1969

The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood of New York City. Police raids on gay bars were routine in the 1960s, but officers quickly lost control of the situation at the Stonewall Inn, and attracted a crowd that was incited to riot. Within weeks, Village residents quickly organized into activist groups to concentrate efforts on establishing places for gays and lesbians to be open about their sexual orientation without fear of being arrested. The campaign was successful and the police agreed not to arrest gays and lesbians. Within six months, two gay activist organizations were formed in New York and three newspapers were established to promote rights for gays and lesbians. Within a few years, gay rights organizations were founded across the U.S. and the world. On June 28, 1970, the first Gay Pride marches took place in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York commemorating the anniversary of the riots. Similar marches were organized in other cities. Today, Gay Pride events are held annually throughout the world toward the end of June to mark the Stonewall riots. The consequences of the Stonewall riots were largely cultural. Legislation to address issues of legal discrimination began after the second wave of the LGBT movement at the time of the first AIDS outbreaks in the 1980s. It is ongoing.

Activities - Watch the film Stonewall Uprising and then answer the following questions.

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