Stonewall
The most famous riot in the United States LGBT movement is the riot of the Stonewall Inn in New York City in June 28, 1969. Stonewall Inn was a bar that, while not specifically a gay bar, functioned as a place for gay people to come together as a community. Stonewall was frequented by drag queens, effeminate gay men, butch lesbians, and male prostitutes. Although this community found its place in Stonewall, it should not be assumed that they were always safe there; police raids occurred monthly. [11] The back-fired raid of this particular night could be phrased very simply; the LGBT population that frequented the bar was done with being hassled by and targeted by the police. [12] Instead of complying with police orders, customers and interested passersby attacked the police officers and forced them into the bar itself while most others stood outside until police reinforcements arrived to rescue the trapped officers. This marked the first time the police in New York City had ever been thwarted by the gay population. [13] The importance of this event rested on the reaction from the gay and transgender community, which resulted in a large scale push-back against the police, empowering and emboldening the battered community and others around the nation to take a stand against police harassment and to demand equal treatment. Although bar raids still continued throughout the nation after Stonewall, the impact of this series of riots was the kickstarting of the gay rights movements across the country. [14]
As time progressed, in 1973, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. [15] Overall, small and large steps towards outspokenness of the LGBT population and policy equality for the population were occurring. Initially, Houston and Texas saw no great changes after the Stonewall riots. [8] Although Houston’s LGBT population slowly grew, became more outspoken, and became more active, there were as of yet no large political events to unify the community. For Houstonians, a major catalyst for the local LGBT movement would not occur until 1977.