before stonewall documentary transcript before stonewall documentary transcript

John O'Brien:Cops got hurt. Doric Wilson:When I was very young, one of the terms for gay people was twilight people, meaning that we never came out until twilight, 'til it got dark. Andrea Weiss is a documentary filmmaker and author with a Ph.D. in American History. Martin Boyce:There were these two black, like, banjee guys, and they were saying, "What's goin' on man?" Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:We would scatter, ka-poom, every which way. Geoff Kole Dick Leitsch:Mattachino in Italy were court jesters; the only people in the whole kingdom who could speak truth to the king because they did it with a smile. From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. J. Michael Grey Geordie, Liam and Theo Gude William Eskridge, Professor of Law:At the peak, as many as 500 people per year were arrested for the crime against nature, and between 3- and 5,000 people per year arrested for various solicitation or loitering crimes. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:This was the Rosa Parks moment, the time that gay people stood up and said no. Gay bars were always on side streets out of the way in neighborhoods that nobody would go into. They really were objecting to how they were being treated. But everybody knew it wasn't normal stuff and everyone was on edge and that was the worst part of it because you knew they were on edge and you knew that the first shot that was fired meant all the shots would be fired. And they were gay. This 1955 educational film warns of homosexuality, calling it "a sickness of the mind.". They would not always just arrest, they would many times use clubs and beat. There was all these drags queens and these crazy people and everybody was carrying on. Patricia Yusah, Marketing and Communications And I had become very radicalized in that time. And we all relaxed. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:And they were, they were kids. 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. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:The moment you stepped out that door there would be hundreds facing you. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:And then the next night. Fred Sargeant:In the '60s, I met Craig Rodwell who was running the Oscar Wilde Bookshop. Fred Sargeant Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:That night I'm in my office, I looked down the street, and I could see the Stonewall sign and I started to see some activity in front. 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. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We were looking for secret exits and one of the policewomen was able to squirm through the window and they did find a way out. 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. [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]. The events. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:There were all these articles in likeLife Magazineabout how the Village was liberal and people that were called homosexuals went there. First Run Features The events that took place in June 1969 have been described as the birth of the gay-rights movement, but that's only partially true. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:It was a bottle club which meant that I guess you went to the door and you bought a membership or something for a buck and then you went in and then you could buy drinks. Sophie Cabott Black Mayor John Lindsay, like most mayors, wanted to get re-elected. The severity of the punishment varies from state to state. The idea was to be there first. David Alpert Dick Leitsch:We wore suits and ties because we wanted people, in the public, who were wearing suits and ties, to identify with us. You know, we wanted to be part of the mainstream society. The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. Jerry Hoose:The open gay people that hung out on the streets were basically the have-nothing-to-lose types, which I was. I was in the Navy when I was 17 and it was there that I discovered that I was gay. A CBS news public opinion survey indicates that sentiment is against permitting homosexual relationships between consenting adults without legal punishment. Slate:In 1969, homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois. Dan Bodner David Carter John O'Brien:There was one street called Christopher Street, where actually I could sit and talk to other gay people beyond just having sex. You throw into that, that the Stonewall was raided the previous Tuesday night. Audience Member (Archival):I was wondering if you think that there are any quote "happy homosexuals" for whom homosexuality would be, in a way, their best adjustment in life? hide caption. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:The Stonewall, they didn't have a liquor license and they were raided by the cops regularly and there were pay-offs to the cops, it was awful. Obama signed the memorandum to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. Dick Leitsch:Well, gay bars were the social centers of gay life. John DiGiacomo If you would like to read more on the topic, here's a list: Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and NPR One. Clever. I mean I'm talking like sardines. This documentary uses extensive archival film, movie clips . Meanwhile, there was crowds forming outside the Stonewall, wanting to know what was going on. John Scagliotti People cheer while standing in front of The Stonewall Inn as the annual Gay Pride parade passes, Sunday, June 26, 2011 in New York. They didn't know what they were walking into. Prisoner (Archival):I realize that, but the thing is that for life I'll be wrecked by this record, see? Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives A medievalist. It eats you up inside. Martin Boyce:I had cousins, ten years older than me, and they had a car sometimes. And the rest of your life will be a living hell. 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. Interviewer (Archival):Are you a homosexual? Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! Gay people were not powerful enough politically to prevent the clampdown and so you had a series of escalating skirmishes in 1969. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:What was so good about the Stonewall was that you could dance slow there. They were getting more ferocious. If there had been a riot of that proportion in Harlem, my God, you know, there'd have been cameras everywhere. Heather Gude, Archival Research They pushed everybody like to the back room and slowly asking for IDs. I would wait until there was nobody left to be the girl and then I would be the girl. NBC News Archives Jerry Hoose:Gay people who had good jobs, who had everything in life to lose, were starting to join in. That was our world, that block. It was not a place that, in my life, me and my friends paid much attention to. Read a July 6, 1969excerpt fromTheNew York Daily News. Before Stonewall. And these were meat trucks that in daytime were used by the meat industry for moving dead produce, and they really reeked, but at nighttime, that's where people went to have sex, you know, and there would be hundreds and hundreds of men having sex together in these trucks. Martin Boyce:For me, there was no bar like the Stonewall, because the Stonewall was like the watering hole on the savannah. The mayor of New York City, the police commissioner, were under pressure to clean up the streets of any kind of quote unquote "weirdness." They call them hotels, motels, lovers' lanes, drive-in movie theaters, etc. It was terrifying. Eric Marcus, Recreation Still Photography All I knew about was that I heard that there were people down in Times Square who were gay and that's where I went to. 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? Noah Goldman America thought we were these homosexual monsters and we were so innocent, and oddly enough, we were so American. It's like, this is not right. On June 28, 1969, New York City police raided a Greenwich Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, setting off a three-day riot that launched the modern American gay rights movement. Where did you buy it? They put some people on the street right in front ofThe Village Voiceprotesting the use of the word fag in my story. Amber Hall Not even us. Raymond Castro:So finally when they started taking me out, arm in arm up to the paddy wagon, I jumped up and I put one foot on one side, one foot on the other and I sprung back, knocking the two arresting officers, knocking them to the ground. Doric Wilson:In those days, the idea of walking in daylight, with a sign saying, "I'm a faggot," was horren--, nobody, nobody was ready to do that. Windows started to break. And they started smashing their heads with clubs. Fred Sargeant:When it was clear that things were definitely over for the evening, we decided we needed to do something more. On this episode, the fight for gay rights before Stonewall. Mafia house beer? So I attempted suicide by cutting my wrists. I mean does anyone know what that is? Jerry Hoose:I remember I was in a paddy wagon one time on the way to jail, we were all locked up together on a chain in the paddy wagon and the paddy wagon stopped for a red light or something and one of the queens said "Oh, this is my stop." It is usually after the day at the beach that the real crime occurs. But the . That night, the police ran from us, the lowliest of the low. 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 I just didn't understand that. A New York Police officer grabs a man by the hair as another officer clubs a man during a confrontation in Greenwich Village after a Gay Power march in New York. And, I did not like parading around while all of these vacationers were standing there eating ice cream and looking at us like we were critters in a zoo. And the first gay power demonstration to my knowledge was against my story inThe Village Voiceon Wednesday. It was fun to see fags. A New York Police officer grabs a man by the hair as another officer clubs a. Absolutely, and many people who were not lucky, felt the cops. Jerry Hoose Martha Shelley:They wanted to fit into American society the way it was. Because as the police moved back, we were conscious, all of us, of the area we were controlling and now we were in control of the area because we were surrounded the bar, we were moving in, they were moving back. Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution You knew you could ruin them for life. That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. This was in front of the police. 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. Before Stonewall 1984 Directed by Greta Schiller, Robert Rosenberg Synopsis 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. 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. We went, "Oh my God. That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. But as we were going up 6th Avenue, it kept growing. Participants of the 1969 Greenwich Village uprising describe the effect that Stonewall had on their lives. Glenn Fukushima It's the first time I'm fully inside the Stonewall. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:Saturday night there it was. Danny Garvin:We were talking about the revolution happening and we were walking up 7th Avenue and I was thinking it was either Black Panthers or the Young Lords were going to start it and we turned the corner from 7th Avenue onto Christopher Street and we saw the paddy wagon pull up there. Ellinor Mitchell We assembled on Christopher Street at 6th Avenue, to march. Jimmy hadn't enjoyed himself so much in a long time. He pulls all his men inside. ITN Source John O'Brien:All of a sudden, the police faced something they had never seen before. One never knows when the homosexual is about. So it was a perfect storm for the police. ", Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And he went to each man and said it by name. WGBH Educational Foundation It was an age of experimentation. Dr. Socarides (Archival):I think the whole idea of saying "the happy homosexual" is to, uh, to create a mythology about the nature of homosexuality. Janice Flood Alfredo del Rio, Archival Still and Motion Images Courtesy of 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. And, it was, I knew I would go through hell, I would go through fire for that experience. And when she grabbed that everybody knew she couldn't do it alone so all the other queens, Congo Woman, queens like that started and they were hitting that door. Somehow being gay was the most terrible thing you could possibly be. The lights came on, it's like stop dancing. Mike Wallace (Archival):The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous. Alexis Charizopolis Yvonne Ritter:And then everybody started to throw pennies like, you know, this is what they were, they were nothing but copper, coppers, that's what they were worth. There are a lot of kids here. There was no going back now, there was no going back, there was no, we had discovered a power that we weren't even aware that we had. Danny Garvin Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. I met this guy and I broke down crying in his arms. Original Language: English. Other images in this film are either recreations or drawn from events of the time. [00:00:55] Oh, my God. And so Howard said, "We've got police press passes upstairs." Seymour Wishman They'd think I'm a cop even though I had a big Jew-fro haircut and a big handlebar mustache at the time. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:If someone was dressed as a woman, you had to have a female police officer go in with her. And that crowd between Howard Johnson's and Mama's Chik-n-Rib was like the basic crowd of the gay community at that time in the Village. 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. The film brings together voices from over 50 years of the LGBTQ rights movement to explore queer activism before, during and after the Stonewall Riots. Lauren Noyes. Before Stonewall. In the sexual area, in psychology, psychiatry. I had never seen anything like that. Virginia Apuzzo:It's very American to say, "This is not right." Yvonne Ritter:I had just turned 18 on June 27, 1969. I was celebrating my birthday at the Stonewall. Available via license: Content may be subject to . Hugh Bush And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble. For the first time, we weren't letting ourselves be carted off to jails, gay people were actually fighting back just the way people in the peace movement fought back. We had no speakers planned for the rally in Central Park, where we had hoped to get to. A lot of them had been thrown out of their families. That's what happened on June 28, but as people were released, the night took an unusual turn when protesters and police clashed. Eric Marcus, Writer:The Mattachine Society was the first gay rights organization, and they literally met in a space with the blinds drawn. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, activists rode their motorcycles during the city's 1989 gay-pride parade. Susan Liberti 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. It was tremendous freedom. The ones that came close you could see their faces in rage. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And by the time the police would come back towards Stonewall, that crowd had gone all the around Washington Place come all the way back around and were back pushing in on them from the other direction and the police would wonder, "These are the same people or different people?". John O'Brien:They went for the head wounds, it wasn't just the back wounds and the leg wounds. We heard one, then more and more. A sickness of the mind. Mike Nuget This time they said, "We're not going." Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We told this to our men. This was the first time I could actually sense, not only see them fearful, I could sense them fearful. 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. John O'Brien:Whenever you see the cops, you would run away from them. Hunted, hunted, sometimes we were hunted. Mike Wallace (Archival):Dr. Charles Socarides is a New York psychoanalyst at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. It was the only time I was in a gladiatorial sport that I stood up in. I just thought you had to get through this, and I thought I could get through it, but you really had to be smart about it. TV Host (Archival):And Sonia is that your own hair? John O'Brien:I was very anti-police, had many years already of activism against the forces of law and order. Judith Kuchar (c) 2011 The term like "authority figures" wasn't used back then, there was just "Lily Law," "Patty Pig," "Betty Badge." Martha Shelley:I don't know if you remember the Joan Baez song, "It isn't nice to block the doorway, it isn't nice to go to jail, there're nicer ways to do it but the nice ways always fail." The mirrors, all the bottles of liquor, the jukebox, the cigarette machines. Martin Boyce:And then more police came, and it didn't stop. People that were involved in it like me referred to it as "The First Run." I mean they were making some headway. Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free dramatic stories from the early 1900's onwards of public and private existence as experienced by LGBT Americans. They were just holding us almost like in a hostage situation where you don't know what's going to happen next. She was awarded the first ever Emmy Award for Research for her groundbreaking work on Before Stonewall. Director . Raymond Castro:You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters and it was a good sound. And as awful as people might think that sounds, it's the way history has always worked. Doric Wilson:There was joy because the cops weren't winning. Raymond Castro:I'd go in there and I would look and I would just cringe because, you know, people would start touching me, and "Hello, what are you doing there if you don't want to be touched?" Many of those activists have since died, but Marcus preserved their voices for his book, titled Making Gay History. This book, and the related documentary film, use oral histories to present students with a varied view of lesbian and gay experience. The homosexual, bitterly aware of his rejection, responds by going underground. Martin Boyce:Oh, Miss New Orleans, she wouldn't be stopped. At least if you had press, maybe your head wouldn't get busted. 'Cause I really realized that I was being trained as a straight person, so I could really fool these people. 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 . Calling 'em names, telling 'em how good-looking they were, grabbing their butts. 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. You see these cops, like six or eight cops in drag. Doric Wilson:And we were about 100, 120 people and there were people lining the sidewalks ahead of us to watch us go by, gay people, mainly. But I had only stuck my head in once at the Stonewall. Eric Marcus, Writer:Before Stonewall, there was no such thing as coming out or being out. A sickness that was not visible like smallpox, but no less dangerous and contagious. I have pondered this as "Before Stonewall," my first feature documentary, is back in cinemas after 35 years. Jerry Hoose:And I got to the corner of Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street, crossed the street and there I had found Nirvana.