THE HISTORY OF THE STONEWALL REBELLION

During the last weekend of June of 1969, police and Alcoholic Beverage Control Board agents entered a gay bar--The Stonewall Inn, on Christopher Street, in New York City. Allegedly there to look for violations of the alcohol control laws, they made the usual homophobic comments and then, after checking identification, threw the patrons out of the bar, one by one. Instead of quietly slipping away into the night, as we had done for years, hustlers, drag queens, students and other patrons held their ground and fought back. Someone uprooted a parking meter and used it to barricade the door. The agents and police were trapped inside, They wrecked the place and called in reinforcements. Their vehicles raced to the scene with lights glaring and sirens blaring. The crowd grew. Someone set a fire. More people came. For three days, people protested. And for the first time, after innumerable years of oppression, the chant, Gay Power, rang out.

This event has taken on mythic significance. Many organizations proudly use Stonewall or Christopher Street in their names.

During the summer and autumn of 1969, five Gay Liberation Fronts sprang up-in New York, Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose. By the end of 1970, three hundred Gay Liberation Fronts had been created.

The first demonstration in commemoration of the Stonewall Rebellion was held in New York in August of 1969. Marches were held in 1970 in New York and Los Angeles on the anniversary of the Uprising--and thus, a tradition was born. Since then, annual marches have been held in many cities in the U.S. and in other countries. For many of us, our first march was a turning point in our lives. We came out, we drew strength from those around us, we felt pride in our community.

On October 12, 1985, at the annual conference of the International Association of Lesbian and Gay Pride Coordinators, Morris Kight, a member of the Christopher Street West/Los Angeles delegation, proposed that the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising be observed with the first international lesbian/gay pride celebration. He proposed a massive presence of our international community in New York during June of 1994.

Since then, the developing concept of Stonewall 25 has met with enthusiastic response at Pride Coordinators conferences in Vancouver, Minneapolis and Boston, and at International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) conferences in Stockholm, and in Paris, where delegates discussed and formulated the name and demands of the International March.

Several preliminary meetings have already taken place. A commitment was made to develop a decision-making process that includes international participation. A goal was set to strive for gender parity and 50% representation of People of Color on decision-making bodies. We are also committed to adequate representation of the disabled, bisexuals, seniors, youth--indeed, the entirety of the grand mosaic that comprises our community.

There will be a vast array of other activities besides the International March and Rally. Events in New York will include Gay Games IV, the annual ILGA conference, the Stonewall History Project, a mass concert by the Lesbian/Gay Bands of America, and a mass Worship Service organized by the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. There will also be athletic, cultural, educational, health-related, political and religious/spiritual/humanist events organized by lesbian/gay/bisexual communities around the world.

[by Alan Batie: batie@agora.rain.com]