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On June 26 2015, the US Supreme Court legalised same-sex marriage in all 50 states.
It was a poignant moment for veteran LGBTQ+ activists, some of whom in the not-so-distant past were unable to hold hands in public or get served in a bar.
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots, regarded as a monumental event in modern queer history.
As Pride events kick off in London and around the world, we take a closer look at the dishevelled New York bar which put queer rights on the map.
The Stonewall Inn: Where it all started
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The Stonewall Inn has a history far bigger than its interior. Nestled in New York’s Greenwich Village, it served as a haven for gay, lesbian and transgender people to socialise in.
The one thing regulars had in common with their favourite hang-out spot was that both were illegal under New York state law. Homosexuality was then still a crime across the US, with punishments varying state to state. In 1940, courts ruled that the New York State Liquor Authority could legally close down bars that served “sex variants,” a law that remained until 1967.
This meant that venues which operated as gay bars had to do so under the radar. At the Stonewall, the alcohol served was bootlegged and often watered down, as the bar was unable to get a liquor license.
The illegality of New York’s gay institutions made them popular money-makers for the Mafia, with the mob giving financial backing to the 181 Club, the Howdy Club and the Stonewall Inn.
Before the Stonewall riots in 1969, police raids on gay bars were already commonplace. In 1967, police raided LA bar the Black Cat, which led to similar demonstrations. The previous year, gay men and lesbians in New York staged a “sip-in” to protest the State Liquor Authority’s discriminatory policy.
Unlike its predecessors, the events of the Stonewall raid were remembered for months afterwards, eventually leading to the creation of the first manifestation of gay Pride.
Riot, rebellion or uprising: How the Stonewall demonstrations unfolded in 1969
When police raided the Stonewall Inn in the early hours of June 28, the owners were completely unprepared.
Corrupt police officers would often tip off the Mafia-run bars before a raid, but this time the Inn wasn’t so lucky.
The NYPD rounded up those inside, lining them up against the wall and demanding they produce identification. Those whose gender did not appear to match their driver’s license were arrested and those without any form of identification were taken to a separate room to have their sex verified.
As many who had escaped the clutches of the police stood outside the Stonewall Inn, an angry crowd began to gather. Overwhelmed with the sheer number of demonstrators, police barricaded themselves in the very venue they had targeted. Sick of constant harassment and social discrimination, protestors threw bricks, coins and other objects at police before setting the bar on fire.
Crowds eventually dispersed as the fire department and a riot squad arrived at the scene, but protests continued for five days afterwards.
Birth of a revolution: What happened after the Stonewall riots?
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During the six days of protests, 21 people were arrested and the Stonewall Inn closed its doors, operating just as a relic for decades afterwards.
Stonewall may have been dead as it had once been, but its reputation couldn’t be quietened. The tide was turning, and the once underground LGBTQ+ scene of New York was impossible to ignore.
“By the early 1970s, the number of gay and lesbian organisations soared to nearly four hundred,” wrote historian and scholar Eric Marcus in Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights.
Just one year after Stonewall, the first Pride March – then called Christopher Street Liberation Day – took place, attracting thousands. Similar events would go on to take place in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. Pride celebrations have been held every year since.
Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera: The unsung heroes
It’s only recently that Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, both transgender women of colour, have been credited with starting the Stonewall riots.
The 2015 movie Stonewall was condemned by some members of the queer community for depicting cisgender white males as the heroes of the movement, effectively erasing the efforts of transgender women, bi people and all the other LGBTQ+ members who participated in the protests.
According to some accounts, Johnson and Rivera were among the first to physically resist police, with Johnson reportedly throwing a shot glass at a mirror.
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Throughout their lives, the pair were tireless advocates for homeless LGBTQ+ youth and those affected by HIV and AIDS. They were also involved in the early founding of campaign group Gay Liberation Front, which rose to prominence immediately after the Stonewall riots.
Earlier this month, the City of New York announced that a monument will be erected in their honour. Speaking to the New York Times, Chirlane McCray, wife of New York City mayor Bill de Blasio, said the statue will help give a “name and a face” to the unsung activists.
“The LGBTQ movement was portrayed very much as a white, gay male movement,” she said. “This monument counters the trend of whitewashing the history.”
50 years on: Why is Stonewall still significant today?
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Whilst Stonewall was by no means the start of the modern gay rights movement, it marked the shift from diplomatic demonstration to radical rebellion.
As historian David Carter wrote, the uprising of 1969 “is to the gay movement what the fall of the Bastille is to the unleashing of the French Revolution.”
The events of that one evening contributed to LGBTQ+ Pride events all over the world, which are now attended by millions.
The annual events are about love, individuality and self-expression. Their founding serves as a reminder of those who had to struggle half a century before to reach this point – and the challenges still faced by the LGBTQ+ community today. The number of transgender hate crimes recorded by police forces in England, Scotland and Wales have risen by 81 per cent in the past year. At the beginning of this year, US president Donald Trump’s controversial ban on transgender people joining the army was approved by the Supreme Court. The Stonewall riots might have been 50 years ago, but the fight is still ongoing.