before stonewall documentary transcript

Susan Liberti Eric Marcus has spent years interviewing people who were there that night, as well as those who were pushing for gay rights before Stonewall. And so there was this drag queen standing on the corner, so they go up and make a sexual offer and they'd get busted. And they were gay. And there was like this tension in the air and it just like built and built. Some of the pre-Stonewall uprisings included: Black Cat Raid, Los Angeles, California, 1967 Black Night Brawl, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 5, 1961. John O'Brien:The election was in November of 1969 and this was the summer of 1969, this was June. Yvonne Ritter:I did try to get out of the bar and I thought that there might be a way out through one of the bathrooms. But we had to follow up, we couldn't just let that be a blip that disappeared. Daniel Pine Martin Boyce:We were like a Hydra. I'm losing everything that I have. And I ran into Howard Smith on the street,The Village Voicewas right there. A year earlier, young gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police near a bar called The Stonewall Inn. Doric Wilson:Somebody that I knew that was older than me, his family had him sent off where they go up and damage the frontal part of the brain. We knew it was a gay bar, we walked past it. And a couple of 'em had pulled out their guns. I entered the convent at 26, to pursue that question and I was convinced that I would either stay until I got an answer, or if I didn't get an answer just stay. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:Ed Koch who was a democratic party leader in the Greenwich Village area, was a specific leader of the local forces seeking to clean up the streets. Stonewall Forever Explore the monument Watch the documentary Download the AR app About & FAQ Privacy Policy Abstract. They didn't know what they were walking into. Sophie Cabott Black And she was quite crazy. You see, Ralph was a homosexual. Martin Boyce:And then more police came, and it didn't stop. And, you know,The Village Voiceat that point started using the word "gay.". John O'Brien:Cops got hurt. We had been threatened bomb threats. I mean does anyone know what that is? Do you understand me?". Andy Frielingsdorf, Reenactment Actors We ought to know, we've arrested all of them. Mafia house beer? 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? The first police officer that came in with our group said, "The place is under arrest. Martin Boyce:The day after the first riot, when it was all over, and I remember sitting, sun was soon to come, and I was sitting on the stoop, and I was exhausted and I looked at that street, it was dark enough to allow the street lamps to pick up the glitter of all the broken glass, and all the debris, and all the different colored cloth, that was in different places. That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. He is not interested in, nor capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage. A word that would be used in the 1960s for gay men and lesbians. And they started smashing their heads with clubs. The homosexual, bitterly aware of his rejection, responds by going underground. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:And then the next night. Slate:Activity Group Therapy (1950), Columbia University Educational Films. That wasn't ours, it was borrowed. Obama signed the memorandum to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. John O'Brien:We had no idea we were gonna finish the march. And it was those loudest people, the most vulnerable, the most likely to be arrested, were the ones that were doing the real fighting. We were thinking about survival. When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City on June 28, 1969, the street erupted into violent protests that lasted for the next six days. They really were objecting to how they were being treated. Except for the few mob-owned bars that allowed some socializing, it was basically for verboten. Interviewer (Archival):What type of laws are you after? Fred Sargeant:When it was clear that things were definitely over for the evening, we decided we needed to do something more. David Carter, Author ofStonewall:Most raids by the New York City Police, because they were paid off by the mob, took place on a weeknight, they took place early in the evening, the place would not be crowded. Windows started to break. 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. He may appear normal, and it may be too late when you discover he is mentally ill. John O'Brien:I was a poor, young gay person. Jerry Hoose:I was chased down the street with billy clubs. It was first released in 1984 with its American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and its European premiere at the Berlinale, followed by a successful theatrical release in many countries and a national broadcast on PBS. They are taught that no man is born homosexual and many psychiatrists now believe that homosexuality begins to form in the first three years of life. Alexandra Meryash Nikolchev, On-Line Editors Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt Martin Boyce:There were these two black, like, banjee guys, and they were saying, "What's goin' on man?" I said, "I can go in with you?" 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. 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. I first engaged in such acts when I was 14 years old. 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. Dick Leitsch:We wore suits and ties because we wanted people, in the public, who were wearing suits and ties, to identify with us. And as awful as people might think that sounds, it's the way history has always worked. You cut one head off. Jerry Hoose:And we were going fast. There were occasions where you did see people get night-sticked, or disappear into a group of police and, you know, everybody knew that was not going to have a good end. It was one of the things you did in New York, it was like the Barnum and Bailey aspect of it. Danny Garvin There may be some here today that will be homosexual in the future. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Jorge Garcia-Spitz Dick Leitsch:Well, gay bars were the social centers of gay life. First you gotta get past the door. It was a horror story. They would not always just arrest, they would many times use clubs and beat. They'd think I'm a cop even though I had a big Jew-fro haircut and a big handlebar mustache at the time. Frank Kameny Before Stonewall was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival. I was celebrating my birthday at the Stonewall. Tom Caruso Participants of the 1969 Greenwich Village uprising describe the effect that Stonewall had on their lives. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:They started busting cans of tear gas. Available on Prime Video, Tubi TV, iTunes. And you will be caught, don't think you won't be caught, because this is one thing you cannot get away with. And all of a sudden, pandemonium broke loose. They pushed everybody like to the back room and slowly asking for IDs. 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. Slate:The Homosexual(1967), CBS Reports. 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. This was in front of the police. Her most recent film, Bones of Contention, premiered in the 2016 Berlin International Mike Wallace (Archival):Dr. Charles Socarides is a New York psychoanalyst at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. John O'Brien:They went for the head wounds, it wasn't just the back wounds and the leg wounds. Before Stonewall (1984) - full transcript 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. Colonial House But I gave it up about, oh I forget, some years ago, over four years ago. Raymond Castro:If that light goes on, you know to stop whatever you're doing, and separate. I learned, very early, that those horrible words were about me, that I was one of those people. Because if they weren't there fast, I was worried that there was something going on that I didn't know about and they weren't gonna come. Now, 50 years later, the film is back. There was the Hippie movement, there was the Summer of Love, Martin Luther King, and all of these affected me terribly. Alexis Charizopolis Evan Eames The cops were barricaded inside. The last time I saw him, he was a walking vegetable. One time, a bunch of us ran into somebody's car and locked the door and they smashed the windows in. Martha Shelley:The riot could have been buried, it could have been a few days in the local newspaper and that was that. Martin Boyce:For me, there was no bar like the Stonewall, because the Stonewall was like the watering hole on the savannah. It was a leaflet that attacked the relationship of the police and the Mafia and the bars that we needed to see ended. Historic Films (c) 2011 Here are my ID cards, you knew they were phonies. 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. Then the cops come up and make use of what used to be called the bubble-gum machine, back then a cop car only had one light on the top that spun around. And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble. They call them hotels, motels, lovers' lanes, drive-in movie theaters, etc. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:What they did in the Stonewall that night. I mean, I came out in Central Park and other places. J. Michael Grey And Vito and I walked the rest of the whole thing with tears running down our face. Doric Wilson:That's what happened Stonewall night to a lot of people. You know, Howard's concern was and my concern was that if all hell broke loose, they'd just start busting heads. And then there were all these priests ranting in church about certain places not to go, so you kind of knew where you could go by what you were told not to do. The ones that came close you could see their faces in rage. I say, I cannot tell this without tearing up. Somehow being gay was the most terrible thing you could possibly be. In 1969 it was common for police officers to rough up a gay bar and ask for payoffs. 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. The film combined personal interviews, snapshots and home movies, together with historical footage. Because one out of three of you will turn queer. This book, and the related documentary film, use oral histories to present students with a varied view of lesbian and gay experience. Corbis Geoff Kole 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. And when you got a word, the word was homosexuality and you looked it up. For the first time the next person stood up. They were not used to a bunch of drag queens doing a Rockettes kick line and sort of like giving them all the finger in a way. She was awarded the first ever Emmy Award for Research for her groundbreaking work on Before Stonewall. Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. 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. Daily News Virginia Apuzzo: I grew up with that. We had no speakers planned for the rally in Central Park, where we had hoped to get to. Directors Greta Schiller Robert Rosenberg (co-director) Stars Rita Mae Brown Maua Adele Ajanaku Jerry Hoose:I was afraid it was over. The Catholic Church, be damned to hell. [00:00:58] Well, this I mean, this is a part of my own history in this weird, inchoate sense. Marc Aubin 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. Martha Shelley:We participated in demonstrations in Philadelphia at Independence Hall. Greg Shea, Legal The Stonewall had reopened. It was as bad as any situation that I had met in during the army, had just as much to worry about. Transcript A gay rights march in New York in favor of the 1968 Civil Rights Act being amended to include gay rights. I mean it didn't stop after that. For those kisses. I guess they're deviates. 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. Joe DeCola Raymond Castro:You could hear screaming outside, a lot of noise from the protesters and it was a good sound. This 19-year-old serviceman left his girlfriend on the beach to go to a men's room in a park nearby where he knew that he could find a homosexual contact. [1] To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in 2019, the film was restored and re-released by First Run Features in June 2019. Judy Laster Raymond Castro:We were in the back of the room, and the lights went on, so everybody stopped what they were doing, because now the police started coming in, raiding the bar. But I had only stuck my head in once at the Stonewall. 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. Sign up for the American Experience newsletter! Jimmy knew he shouldn't be interested but, well, he was curious. We did use humor to cover pain, frustration, anger. The groundbreaking 1984 film "Before Stonewall" introduced audiences to some of the key players and places that helped spark the Greenwich Village riots. Danny Garvin:With Waverly Street coming in there, West Fourth coming in there, Seventh Avenue coming in there, Christopher Street coming in there, there was no way to contain us. Transcript Enlarge this image 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. Martin Boyce:It was thrilling. As kids, we played King Kong. I was wearing my mother's black and white cocktail dress that was empire-waisted. And Dick Leitsch, who was the head of the Mattachine Society said, "Who's in favor?" But I was just curious, I didn't want to participate because number one it was so packed. 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 . If there had been a riot of that proportion in Harlem, my God, you know, there'd have been cameras everywhere. So I run down there. Janice Flood That night, the police ran from us, the lowliest of the low. MacDonald & Associates Dick Leitsch:And I remember it being a clear evening with a big black sky and the biggest white moon I ever saw. Alexis Charizopolis Dick Leitsch:It was an invasion, I mean you felt outraged and stuff like you know what, God, this is America, what's this country come to? Richard Enman (Archival):Well, let me say, first of all, what type of laws we are not after, because there has been much to-do that the Society was in favor of the legalization of marriage between homosexuals, and the adoption of children, and such as that, and that is not at all factual at all. One never knows when the homosexual is about. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:The federal government would fire you, school boards would fire you. 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. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:The moment you stepped out that door there would be hundreds facing you. Gay people were told we didn't have any of that. Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives Hear more of the conversation and historical interviews at the audio link. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:There were complaints from people who objected to the wrongful behavior of some gays who would have sex on the street. And I raised my hand at one point and said, "Let's have a protest march." Franco Sacchi, Additional Animation and Effects It was the only time I was in a gladiatorial sport that I stood up in. Martin Boyce:You could be beaten, you could have your head smashed in a men's room because you were looking the wrong way. It was fun to see fags. Jerry Hoose Stacker put together a timeline of LGBTQ+ history leading up to Stonewall, beginning with prehistoric events and ending in the late 1960s. And it was fantastic. Absolutely, and many people who were not lucky, felt the cops. It was right in the center of where we all were. Frank Kameny, co-founder of the Mattachine Society, and Shirley Willer, president of the Daughters of Bilitis, spoke to Marcus about being gay before the Stonewall riots happened and what motivated people who were involved in the movement. A person marching in a gay rights parade along New York's Fifth Avenue on July 7th, 1979. Pamela Gaudiano To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Awards, the film was shown at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016. Fred Sargeant:The tactical patrol force on the second night came in even larger numbers, and were much more brutal. This was ours, here's where the Stonewall was, here's our Mecca. Finally, Mayor Lindsay listened to us and he announced that there would be no more police entrapment in New York City. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:The police would zero in on us because sometimes they would be in plain clothes, and sometimes they would even entrap. I was proud. by David Carter, Associate Producer and Advisor Gay bars were always on side streets out of the way in neighborhoods that nobody would go into. People cheer while standing in front of The Stonewall Inn as the annual Gay Pride parade passes, Sunday, June 26, 2011 in New York. Yvonne Ritter:It's like people who are, you know, black people who are used to being mistreated, and going to the back of the bus and I guess this was sort of our going to the back of the bus. 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. One of the world's oldest and largest gay pride parades became a victory celebration after New York's historic decision to legalize same-sex marriage. Mike Nuget I would get in the back of the car and they would say, "We're going to go see faggots." The idea was to be there first. I went in there and they took bats and just busted that place up. John O'Brien:They had increased their raids in the trucks. Don't fire until I fire. 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. I made friends that first day. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:In states like New York, there were a whole basket of crimes that gay people could be charged with. Raymond Castro:New York City subways, parks, public bathrooms, you name it. 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. Transcript Aired June 9, 2020 Stonewall Uprising The Year That Changed America Film Description When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of. So in every gay pride parade every year, Stonewall lives. This is one thing that if you don't get caught by us, you'll be caught by yourself. Is that conceivable? Doric Wilson:And I looked back and there were about 2,000 people behind us, and that's when I knew it had happened. Revisiting the newly restored "Before Stonewall" 35 years after its premiere, Rosenberg said he was once again struck by its "powerful" and "acutely relevant" narrative. Noah Goldman We didn't expect we'd ever get to Central Park. There may be some girls here who will turn lesbian. Never, never, never. Mayor John Lindsay, like most mayors, wanted to get re-elected. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:As much as I don't like to say it, there's a place for violence. Martin Boyce:And I remember moving into the open space and grabbing onto two of my friends and we started singing and doing a kick line. Dan Martino What Jimmy didn't know is that Ralph was sick. "Don't fire. Producers Library National Archives and Records Administration It meant nothing to us. The police weren't letting us dance. And you felt bad that you were part of this, when you knew they broke the law, but what kind of law was that? People could take shots at us. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Well, we did use the small hoses on the fire extinguishers. 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. Detective John Sorenson, Dade County Morals & Juvenile Squad (Archival):There may be some in this auditorium. That was our world, that block. Martha Shelley:In those days, what they would do, these psychiatrists, is they would try to talk you into being heterosexual. Susana Fernandes Meanwhile, there was crowds forming outside the Stonewall, wanting to know what was going on. Slate:The Homosexuals(1967), CBS Reports. It was terrifying. I would wait until there was nobody left to be the girl and then I would be the girl. Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution Judith Kuchar And we were singing: "We are the Village girls, we wear our hair in curls, we wear our dungarees, above our nellie knees." 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. 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. John O'Brien:Heterosexuals, legally, had lots of sexual outlets. And they wore dark police uniforms and riot helmets and they had billy clubs and they had big plastic shields, like Roman army, and they actually formed a phalanx, and just marched down Christopher Street and kind of pushed us in front of them. Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:So at that point the police are extremely nervous. But we couldn't hold out very long. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:There were all these articles in likeLife Magazineabout how the Village was liberal and people that were called homosexuals went there. Slate:In 1969, homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois. ", Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And he went to each man and said it by name. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Yes, entrapment did exist, particularly in the subway system, in the bathrooms. A gay rights march in New York in favor of the 1968 Civil Rights Act being amended to include gay rights. Martha Shelley:When I was growing up in the '50s, I was supposed to get married to some guy, produce, you know, the usual 2.3 children, and I could look at a guy and say, "Well, objectively he's good looking," but I didn't feel anything, just didn't make any sense to me. One was the 1845 statute that made it a crime in the state to masquerade. Synopsis. And if we catch you, involved with a homosexual, your parents are going to know about it first. Other images in this film are A CBS news public opinion survey indicates that sentiment is against permitting homosexual relationships between consenting adults without legal punishment. You had no place to try to find an identity. And I knew that I was lesbian. Because he was homosexual. And we had no right to such. Jerry Hoose:The police would come by two or three times a night. Barak Goodman Things were being thrown against the plywood, we piled things up to try to buttress it. Narrator (Archival):We arrested homosexuals who committed their lewd acts in public places. It is usually after the day at the beach that the real crime occurs. This, to a homosexual, is no choice at all. Marcus spoke with NPR's Ari Shapiro about his conversations with leaders of the gay-rights movement, as well as people who were at Stonewall when the riots broke out. Dick Leitsch:You read about Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams and Gore Vidal and all these actors and stuff, Liberace and all these people running around doing all these things and then you came to New York and you found out, well maybe they're doing them but, you know, us middle-class homosexuals, we're getting busted all the time, every time we have a place to go, it gets raided. Martin Boyce:I wasn't labeled gay, just "different." John O'Brien:I was very anti-police, had many years already of activism against the forces of law and order. NBC News Archives Scott McPartland/Getty Images We don't know. Mike Wallace (Archival):Two out of three Americans look upon homosexuals with disgust, discomfort or fear. They'd go into the bathroom or any place that was private, that they could either feel them, or check them visually. This documentary uses extensive archival film, movie clips and personal recollections to construct an audiovisual history of the gay community before the Stonewall riots. Just let's see if they can. John DiGiacomo 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 gay community. Remember everything. And that's what it was, it was a war. Amber Hall Cop (Archival):Anyone can walk into that men's room, any child can walk in there, and see what you guys were doing. 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.

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