All about Stonewall riots
On June 28, 1969 in a pub known as Stonewall Inn located in New York, a raid was carried out by the police against the LGBT + community. This led to massive demonstrations which became the first fight for the rights of the LGBT + community.
Between 1950 and 1960 there were few establishments that accepted openly homosexual people, most of them were bars.
Previously police raids in gay bars were already a routine however in this case completely exceeded all limits.
Thousands of homosexuals and transgender people were publicly humiliated, sexually harassed, dismissed, imprisoned or interned in psychiatric hospitals.
The Stonewall Inn is located at 51 and 53 Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood and was the only bar that accepted trans people.
During the raids the trans women identified with their military cards and had to wear a minimum of three men's garments to avoid being arrested.
On the day of the disturbances, four police officers entered the bar through the main door, turned off the music, closed the doors and used the telephone to ask for more reinforcements.
Workers and bar patrons were arrested while more people inside and outside were being heavily assaulted by the police.
During the 45 minutes that the disturbance lasted approximately, a person threw a fuel jet in the bar and set it on fire, later the firemen arrived and extinguished the fire.
They arrested 13 people, others ended up in the hospital, four police officers were injured and almost the entire interior of the establishment was destroyed.
Six months after this terrible tragedy, two activist organizations were created in New York to carry out protests and promote their rights.
The first anniversary of the Stonewall Inn disturbance was celebrated on June 28, 1970, becoming the first LGBT + pride march in history.
On June 24, 2016, former US President Barack Obama declared the Stonewall Inn bar as the first national monument commemorating the history of the struggle for the rights of the LGBT + community.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of those riots that happened in New York, however after so many years there are still many more things to do to eradicate violence against the LGBT + community.
