The Beginning

by Kathi Isserman

Title

The Beginning

Artist

Kathi Isserman

Medium

Photograph - Photographs

Description

2019-NYC . Stonewall Inn I decided to re-edit this photo this month for PRIDE. It is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots which was the beginning of the LGBT Civil Rights Movement.

“The Stonewall Inn, a bar located in Greenwich Village, New York City, was the scene of an uprising against police repression that led to a key turning point in the struggle for the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. In a pattern of harassment of LGBT establishments, the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn in the early hours of Saturday, June 28, 1969. The reaction of the bar’s patrons and neighborhood residents that assembled in the street was not typical of these kinds of raids. Instead of dispersing, the crowd became increasingly angry and began chanting and throwing objects as the police arrested the bar's employees and patrons. Reinforcements were called in by the police, and for several hours they tried to clear the streets while the crowd fought back. The initial raid and the riot that ensued led to six days of demonstrations and conflicts with law enforcement outside the bar, in nearby Christopher Park, and along neighboring streets. At its peak, the crowds included several thousand people.
The events of Stonewall, as the uprising is most commonly referred to, marked a major change in the struggle for "homophile rights" in the U.S., with lesbian women, gay men, bisexual and transgender people beginning to vocally and assertively demand their civil rights. Stonewall is regarded by many as the single most important catalyst for the dramatic expansion of the LGBT civil rights movement. The riots inspired LGBT people throughout the country to organize and within two years of Stonewall, LGBT rights groups had been started in nearly every major city in the U.S. Stonewall was, as historian Lillian Faderman wrote, ‘the shot heard round the world...crucial because it sounded the rally for the movement’.”
-National Park Service Website

In 2013 when I took this photo Windsor vs United States had been decided just two months before, striking down section 3 of DOMA and giving same-sex marriages the same rights afforded heterosexuals. This was a big step for LGBT equality but more was to come. This scene is also different today as the National Park Service now administers this area and Stonewall is no longer just a bar, but a monument to American history.

I hope during this momentous month you attend at least one PRIDE event even if you have never done so before. I will be a vendor at my local PRIDE Fest in Columbia Maryland, HoCo PRIDE Fest on June 29. This photo will be prominently featured on merchandise!

Uploaded

September 15th, 2013

Statistics

Viewed 1,426 Times  -  Last Visitor from Cambridge, MA on 04/20/2024 at 5:56 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags