In the middle of a hot June night in 1969, a group of police officers entered the bar, turned the lights off and demanded identifications. There, skirmishes with police were common as cops looked to raid the bar and arrest anyone violating strict social laws. The mafia-owned bar was one of the few public places where gay people could show affection and dance openly with each other. One was the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Despite public alienation and shaming, the gay community found ways to create safe spaces.
In the 1960s, homosexuality was still widely considered a mental illness by the medical community an society at large. This American Experience film gives the events at Stonewall meaningful context through personal interviews with people who were there.
Last summer marked the 50th anniversary of a turning point in the modern gay rights movement. American Experience: “Stonewall Uprising”
