before stonewall documentary transcript

Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn has undergone several transformations in the decades since it was the focal point of a three-day riot in 1969. How do you think that would affect him mentally, for the rest of their lives if they saw an act like that being? In 1924, the first gay rights organization is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. Ellinor Mitchell Things were just changing. And they started smashing their heads with clubs. That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. A year earlier, young gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police near a bar called The Stonewall Inn. Paul Bosche Documentary | Stonewall Forever Martin Boyce:I had cousins, ten years older than me, and they had a car sometimes. At least if you had press, maybe your head wouldn't get busted. Mike Nuget Leaflets in the 60s were like the internet, today. One was the 1845 statute that made it a crime in the state to masquerade. The documentary shows how homosexual people enjoyed and shared with each other. Alexandra Meryash Nikolchev, On-Line Editors If there had been a riot of that proportion in Harlem, my God, you know, there'd have been cameras everywhere. Urban Stages Martin Boyce Stonewall Forever is a documentary from NYC's LGBT Community Center directed by Ro Haber. They didn't know what they were walking into. Former U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with gay rights activist Frank Kameny after signing a memorandum on federal benefits and non-discrimination in the Oval Office on June 17, 2009. People started throwing pennies. ", Martin Boyce:People in the neighborhood, the most unlikely people were starting to support it. And a couple of 'em had pulled out their guns. I mean I'm only 19 and this'll ruin me. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:I had been in some gay bars either for a story or gay friends would say, "Oh we're going to go in for a drink there, come on in, are you too uptight to go in?" Raymond Castro:If that light goes on, you know to stop whatever you're doing, and separate. David Alpert NBC News Archives Revealing and, by turns, humorous and horrifying, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotional and political spark of today's gay rights movement - the events that . That night, the police ran from us, the lowliest of the low. We were going to propose something that all groups could participate in and what we ended up producing was what's now known as the gay pride march. I was a man. And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble. It was narrated by author Rita Mae Brown, directed by Greta Schiller, co-directed by Robert Rosenberg, and co-produced by John Scagliotti and Rosenberg, and Schiller. It eats you up inside. One time, a bunch of us ran into somebody's car and locked the door and they smashed the windows in. The first police officer that came in with our group said, "The place is under arrest. "Don't fire. I was wearing my mother's black and white cocktail dress that was empire-waisted. The award-winning documentary film, Before Stonewall, which was released theatrically and broadcast on PBS television in 1984, explored the history of the lesbian and gay rights movement in the United States prior to 1969. John O'Brien:Cops got hurt. Virginia Apuzzo: I grew up with that. Martha Shelley:We participated in demonstrations in Philadelphia at Independence Hall. And the cops got that. They would bang on the trucks. It won the Best Film Award at the Houston International Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature at Filmex, First Place at the National Educational Film Festival, and Honorable Mention at the Global Village Documentary Festival. If that didn't work, they would do things like aversive conditioning, you know, show you pornography and then give you an electric shock. National Archives and Records Administration Everyone from the street kids who were white and black kids from the South. TV Host (Archival):Are those your own eyelashes? Before Stonewall - Trailer - YouTube Long before marriage equality, non-binary gender identity, and the flood of new documentaries commemorating this month's 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village uprising that begat the gay rights movement, there was Greta Schiller's Before Stonewall.Originally released in 1984as AIDS was slowly killing off many of those bar patrons-turned-revolutionariesthe film, through the use of . And you felt bad that you were part of this, when you knew they broke the law, but what kind of law was that? That wasn't ours, it was borrowed. The severity of the punishment varies from state to state. John O'Brien Danny Garvin:And the cops just charged them. Available via license: Content may be subject to . MacDonald & Associates New York City's Stonewall Inn is regarded by many as the site of gay and lesbian liberation since it was at this bar that drag queens fought back against police June 27-28, 1969. I mean I'm talking like sardines. National History Archive, LGBT Community Center Raymond Castro:So then I got pushed back in, into the Stonewall by these plain clothes cops and they would not let me out, they didn't let anybody out. 400 Plankinton Ave. Compton's Cafeteria Raid, San Francisco, California, 1966 Coopers Do-Nut Raid, Los Angeles, California, 1959 Pepper Hill Club Raid, Baltimore, Maryland in 1955. It gives back a little of the terror they gave in my life. Bettye Lane It was narrated by author Rita Mae Brown, directed by Greta Schiller, co-directed by Robert Rosenberg, and co-produced by John Scagliotti and Rosenberg, and Schiller. Because that's what they were looking for, any excuse to try to bust the place. There are a lot of kids here. People could take shots at us. W hen police raided a Greenwich Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, on June 28, 1969 50 years ago this month the harassment was routine for the time. From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. ", Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And he went to each man and said it by name. You see, Ralph was a homosexual. 1969: The Stonewall Uprising - Library of Congress Atascadero was known in gay circles as the Dachau for queers, and appropriately so. Martin Boyce:I heard about the trucks, which to me was fascinated me, you know, it had an imagination thing that was like Marseilles, how can it only be a few blocks away? I was in the Navy when I was 17 and it was there that I discovered that I was gay. The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States. We were scared. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:We would scatter, ka-poom, every which way. Gay people were never supposed to be threats to police officers. You know, all of a sudden, I had brothers and sisters, you know, which I didn't have before. Before Stonewall - Letterboxd For the first time the next person stood up. John O'Brien:They went for the head wounds, it wasn't just the back wounds and the leg wounds. and someone would say, "Well, they're still fighting the police, let's go," and they went in. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community is a 1984 American documentary film about the LGBT community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots. Martin Boyce:There were these two black, like, banjee guys, and they were saying, "What's goin' on man?" With this outpouring of courage and unity the gay liberation movement had begun. John O'Brien:They had increased their raids in the trucks. I was celebrating my birthday at the Stonewall. The newly restored 1984 documentary "Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community," re-released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the seminal Stonewall riots, remains a . I mean, I came out in Central Park and other places. Amber Hall In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's LGBT community. And they were gay. LGBTQ+ History Before Stonewall | Stacker People that were involved in it like me referred to it as "The First Run." Guest Post: What I Learned From Revisiting My 1984 Documentary "Before Fred Sargeant:We knew that they were serving drinks out of vats and buckets of water and believed that there had been some disease that had been passed. Some of the pre-Stonewall uprisings included: Black Cat Raid, Los Angeles, California, 1967 Black Night Brawl, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 5, 1961. TV Host (Archival):That's a very lovely dress too that you're wearing Simone. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We only had about six people altogether from the police department knowing that you had a precinct right nearby that would send assistance. The Stonewall riots inspired gay Americans to fight for their rights. So if any one of you, have let yourself become involved with an adult homosexual, or with another boy, and you're doing this on a regular basis, you better stop quick. Fifty years ago, a gay bar in New York City called The Stonewall Inn was raided by police, and what followed were days of rebellion where protesters and police clashed. Oh, tell me about your anxiety. Mike Wallace (Archival):Dr. Charles Socarides is a New York psychoanalyst at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. Revealing and often humorous, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotionally-charged sparking of today's gay rights movement . by David Carter, Associate Producer and Advisor There's a little door that slides open with this power-hungry nut behind that, you see this much of your eyes, and he sees that much of your face, and then he decides whether you're going to get in. This was a highly unusual raid, going in there in the middle of the night with a full crowd, the Mafia hasn't been alerted, the Sixth Precinct hasn't been alerted. Fred Sargeant:Three articles of clothing had to be of your gender or you would be in violation of that law. I am not alone, there are other people that feel exactly the same way.". And it's interesting to note how many youngsters we've been seeing in these films. That never happened before. It was nonsense, it was nonsense, it was all the people there, that were reacting and opposing what was occurring. Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. And Howard said, "Boy there's like a riot gonna happen here," and I said, "yeah." I have pondered this as "Before Stonewall," my first feature documentary, is back in cinemas after 35 years. Narrator (Archival):Richard Enman, president of the Mattachine Society of Florida, whose goal is to legalize homosexuality between consenting adults, was a reluctant participant in tonight's program. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:They started busting cans of tear gas. In a spontaneous show of support and frustration, the citys gay community rioted for three nights in the streets, an event that is considered the birth of the modern Gay Rights Movement. ITN Source Doric Wilson:That's what happened Stonewall night to a lot of people. He said, "Okay, let's go." And the Village has a lot of people with children and they were offended. Well, little did he know that what was gonna to happen later on was to make history. Heather Gude, Archival Research We heard one, then more and more. We did use humor to cover pain, frustration, anger. The New York Times / Redux Pictures Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And I keep listening and listening and listening, hoping I'm gonna hear sirens any minute and I was very freaked. And gay people were standing around outside and the mood on the street was, "They think that they could disperse us last night and keep us from doing what we want to do, being on the street saying I'm gay and I'm proud? We ought to know, we've arrested all of them. Raymond Castro:New York City subways, parks, public bathrooms, you name it. Getting then in the car, rocking them back and forth. I didn't think I could have been any prettier than that night. [2][3] Later in 2019, the film was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4][5][6]. Fifty years ago, a riot broke out at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village. It was like a reward. The award winning film Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free the dramatic story of the sometimes horrifying public and private existences experienced by gay and lesbian Americans since the 1920s. Lester Senior Housing Community, Jewish Community Housing Corporation Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We didn't have the manpower, and the manpower for the other side was coming like it was a real war. It must have been terrifying for them. Frank Simon's documentary follows the drag contestants of 1967's Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant, capturing plenty of on- and offstage drama along the way. 1984 documentary film by Greta Schiller and Robert Rosenberg, "Berlinale 2016: Panorama Celebrates Teddy Award's 30th Anniversary and Announces First Titles in Programme", "Guest Post: What I Learned From Revisiting My 1984 Documentary 'Before Stonewall', "See the 25 New Additions to the National Film Registry, From Purple Rain to Clerks", "Complete National Film Registry Listing", "Before Stonewall - Independent Historical Film", Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community (Newly Restored), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Before_Stonewall&oldid=1134540821, Documentary films about United States history, Historiography of LGBT in the United States, United States National Film Registry films, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 19 January 2023, at 05:30. And so Howard said, "We've got police press passes upstairs." We knew it was a gay bar, we walked past it. Eric Marcus, Writer:Before Stonewall, there was no such thing as coming out or being out. Ed Koch, mayorof New York City from1978 to 1989, discussesgay civil rights in New York in the 1960s. Robin Haueter Before Stonewall - Trailer BuskFilms 12.6K subscribers Subscribe 14K views 10 years ago Watch the full film here (UK & IRE only): http://buskfilms.com/films/before-sto. I would get in the back of the car and they would say, "We're going to go see faggots." Martin Boyce:That was our only block. So you couldn't have a license to practice law, you couldn't be a licensed doctor. Greg Shea, Legal Before Stonewall 1984 Unrated 1 h 27 m IMDb RATING 7.5 /10 1.1K YOUR RATING Rate Play trailer 2:21 1 Video 7 Photos Documentary History The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. John O'Brien:We had no idea we were gonna finish the march. [7] In 1987, the film won Emmy Awards for Best Historical/Cultural Program and Best Research. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was getting worse and worse. Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution William Eskridge, Professor of Law:The federal government would fire you, school boards would fire you. Narrator (Archival):Note how Albert delicately pats his hair, and adjusts his collar. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:It really should have been called Stonewall uprising. There was at least one gay bar that was run just as a hustler bar for straight gay married men. It was done in our little street talk. More than a half-century after its release, " The Queen " serves as a powerful time capsule of queer life as it existed before the 1969 Stonewall uprising. Lauren Noyes. The ones that came close you could see their faces in rage. John van Hoesen Genre: Documentary, History, Drama. Raymond Castro:You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters and it was a good sound. He is not interested in, nor capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage. And Dick Leitsch, who was the head of the Mattachine Society said, "Who's in favor?" That was scary, very scary. Doric Wilson Jerry Hoose:The bar itself was a toilet. Leroy S. Mobley Because one out of three of you will turn queer. They could be judges, lawyers. So in every gay pride parade every year, Stonewall lives. Martin Boyce:We were like a Hydra. And so we had to create these spaces, mostly in the trucks. Raymond Castro:There were mesh garbage cans being lit up on fire and being thrown at the police. And she was quite crazy. And it was those loudest people, the most vulnerable, the most likely to be arrested, were the ones that were doing the real fighting. He pulls all his men inside. Yvonne Ritter:I had just turned 18 on June 27, 1969. Like, "Joe, if you fire your gun without me saying your name and the words 'fire,' you will be walking a beat on Staten Island all alone on a lonely beach for the rest of your police career. It was a real good sound to know that, you know, you had a lot of people out there pulling for you. The Activism That Came Before Stonewall And The Movement That - NPR Other images in this film are either recreations or drawn from events of the time. Participants of the 1969 Greenwich Village uprising describe the effect that Stonewall had on their lives. We were all there. Doing things like that. Jerry Hoose:Who was gonna complain about a crackdown against gay people? I say, I cannot tell this without tearing up. Mafia house beer? Dick Leitsch:And I remember it being a clear evening with a big black sky and the biggest white moon I ever saw. Dick Leitsch:New York State Liquor Authority had a rule that one known homosexual at a licensed premise made the place disorderly, so nobody would set up a place where we could meet because they were afraid that the cops would come in to close it, and that's how the Mafia got into the gay bar business. Mary Queen of the Scotch, Congo Woman, Captain Faggot, Miss Twiggy. Alan Lechner Do you want them to lose all chance of a normal, happy, married life? Ellen Goosenberg They frequent their own clubs, and bars and coffee houses, where they can escape the disapproving eye of the society that they call straight. John O'Brien:I was with a group that we actually took a parking meter out of theground, three or four people, and we used it as a battering ram. Finally, Mayor Lindsay listened to us and he announced that there would be no more police entrapment in New York City. Richard Enman (Archival):Present laws give the adult homosexual only the choice of being, to simplify the matter, heterosexual and legal or homosexual and illegal. And the first gay power demonstration to my knowledge was against my story inThe Village Voiceon Wednesday. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:They were sexual deviates. It was a 100% profit, I mean they were stealing the liquor, then watering it down, and they charging twice as much as they charged one door away at the 55. I never saw so many gay people dancing in my life. People talk about being in and out now, there was no out, there was just in. Fred Sargeant Raymond Castro:Incendiary devices were being thrown in I don't think they were Molotov cocktails, but it was just fire being thrown in when the doors got open. Here are my ID cards, you knew they were phonies. Danny Garvin:There was more anger and more fight the second night. Over a short period of time, he will be unable to get sexually aroused to the pictures, and hopefully, he will be unable to get sexually aroused inside, in other settings as well. And some people came out, being very dramatic, throwing their arms up in a V, you know, the victory sign. And then they send them out in the street and of course they did make arrests, because you know, there's all these guys who cruise around looking for drag queens.