Alison Thorne on why we still celebrate the Stonewall Riots in 2008.
In June 28, 1969, patrons of the Stonewall Inn, the watering hole of some of the poorer members of New York’s queer community, said ‘Enough!’ to police harassment.
They fought back, both that night and for several nights thereafter. Their resistance came to be known as the Stonewall Riots. It was the beginning of the modern queer liberation movement as we now know it.
Later this month, Radical Women and the Freedom Socialist Party celebrate the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising with the premier Melbourne screening of Hidden History: True Stories from Seattle’s Gay and Lesbian Elders.
The early 1990s saw the Pacific North West of the USA become a battleground, with the right wing mobilising to stop gay rights reforms and attempting to claw back hard won gains. In 1991, Seattle’s Alice B. Theatre commissioned a play based on interviews with queers over 50 years of age. Hidden History tells the stories of five veterans. The cast - three women and two men - includes African-American nurse, Hurdie Styles; Radical Women member, Tamara Turner; and retired maritime unionist, Steven Blair. Focused on personal stories, the production also provides historical insights. Launched in 1992, the play became the smash hit of Seattle’s Gay Pride celebrations.
It’s now 39 years since the streets outside the Stonewall Inn erupted in a show of defiant resistance; and people often ask about what relevance there is in celebrating Stonewall today.
Gay men and lesbians have won a great deal since 1969. There has been a parade of significant reforms and a huge shift in community attitudes. These are things to celebrate, but we also need to understand how they were achieved. The theme of the upcoming cross-campus Queer Collaborations conference at Melbourne University in July says it all: “Freedoms Are Won, Not Given!” The pioneers who came out and took bold and militant action should be both honoured and emulated: we must be ready to defend the gains of our movement.
The second reason to hold Stonewall events today is because of all the things we have not won.
I work in the customer service industry, where queers can be open about their sexuality. But one of my Radical Women sisters works in a Catholic School and, unlike me, could not safely write and sign this article.
The Catholic Church undermines HIV prevention campaigns by banning condom usage. We have not won adoption rights. It’s an indictment on our society when the attempted suicide rate amongst same-sex attracted youth is four times that of heterosexuals. And, in far too many parts of the world, a same-sex relationship can result in a prison sentence, or even death.
In a recent interview, Tamara Turner said: “After we heard about New York City’s Stonewall riots in 1969, I wanted some way to fight back. Philadelphia’s lesbians and gays picketed for civil rights on July 4, 1965, which was very brave. But Stonewall was an out-and-out street fight against the cops, with drag queens of color leading the charge. They didn’t want tolerance or acceptance — they wanted equality.”
Until we have complete equality, Stonewall will remain an important focus for resistance.
Hidden History: True Stories from Seattle’s Gay and Lesbian Elders screens Saturday June 28 at 7:30pm, at Solidarity Salon, 580 Sydney Road, Brunswick. The screening is free: the pre-film supper at 6:30pm is $10. Details: (03) 9388 0062.
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