Stonewall Riots Research Paper

The world is more accepting now than it was in the late 1900s. For most minority groups, there has been an event that kickstarts a revolution in their favor. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and more (LGBT+) have had a difficult time being accepted throughout history. After the Stonewall riots in New York of 1969, the world slowly changed for LGBT+ people. There are many theories about how the first Stonewall riot was started. Some say it was a drag queen who knocked out a cop or a person whom threw a bottle towards the police. Sociologists might say that it was the effect of a chain reaction that caused the riots. How the Stonewall riots began is still a mystery to this day.
In the 1920s, a homosexual subculture had started in New York’s …show more content…
The club was serving liquor without a license along with more violations (A3). Club raiding was a normal phenomenon. Since New York had many laws against homosexuality, many people would be arrested during these raids. The lights were turned on, customers lined up and their identification was checked. Those without an ID or dressed in full drag were arrested (K1). Women were required to wear three pieces of feminine clothing and would be arrested if not found wearing them (K2). Three drag queens and one lesbian were being forced into the paddy wagon. Scott G. Brown claims, “As the policemen pushed and hurried them [drag queens] to the waiting paddy wagons, one of the drag queens heels broke off. One of the drag queens nudged a policeman in the groin with an elbow while another threw a shoe that struck another officer. Then all hell broke loose. (G1)” According to some eyewitnesses, Sylvia Rivera, a well-known LGBT+ activist, was the first to throw a bottle at the police (E1). People also reported Marsha P. Johnson was the drag queen to knock out the policeman (E3). Police started to retreat into the bar as more bricks, bottles, and coins were thrown at them. During this, the rioters tried to set the bar on fire to prevent the police from hiding. The crowd started shouting, “Gay power.” To prevent the police from arresting anymore people, the crowd linked arms and chanted, “We are Stonewall girls, we wear our hair in curls, we wear no underwear, we show our pubic hair...we wear our dungarees above our nelly knees!”D2). Drag queens were often outcasted because of their “absurd lifestyle”. This chant was used to flaunt their pride to the people who despised them about who they

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