before stonewall documentary transcript

David Carter, Author ofStonewall:There was also vigilantism, people were using walkie-talkies to coordinate attacks on gay men. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:In states like New York, there were a whole basket of crimes that gay people could be charged with. 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. The scenes were photographed with telescopic lenses. I hope it was. They'd think I'm a cop even though I had a big Jew-fro haircut and a big handlebar mustache at the time. And the Stonewall was part of that system. Jerry Hoose The documentary "Before Stonewall" was very educational and interesting because it shows a retail group that fought for the right to integrate into the society and was where the homosexual revolution occurred. John O'Brien:I was with a group that we actually took a parking meter out of theground, three or four people, and we used it as a battering ram. Transcript A gay rights march in New York in favor of the 1968 Civil Rights Act being amended to include gay rights. We didn't expect we'd ever get to Central Park. It gives back a little of the terror they gave in my life. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:Those of us that were the street kids we didn't think much about the past or the future. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:And they were, they were kids. We were all there. Revealing and. Saying I don't want to be this way, this is not the life I want. 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. It was terrifying. Bettye Lane Before Stonewall - Letterboxd Somehow being gay was the most terrible thing you could possibly be. In an effort to avoid being anachronistic . It was not a place that, in my life, me and my friends paid much attention to. 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. Fred Sargeant:The press did refer to it in very pejorative terms, as a night that the drag queens fought back. 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. Available via license: Content may be subject to . Martin Boyce:It was thrilling. We'll put new liquor in there, we'll put a new mirror up, we'll get a new jukebox." Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:I never bought a drink at the Stonewall. They would not always just arrest, they would many times use clubs and beat. The windows were always cloaked. We were scared. He brought in gay-positive materials and placed that in a setting that people could come to and feel comfortable in. People cheer while standing in front of The Stonewall Inn as the annual Gay Pride parade passes, Sunday, June 26, 2011 in New York. [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]. Colonial House 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. Tweet at us @throughlineNPR, send us an email, or leave us a voicemail at (872) 588-8805. It was done in our little street talk. 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. The overwhelming number of medical authorities said that homosexuality was a mental defect, maybe even a form of psychopathy. And there was tear gas on Saturday night, right in front of the Stonewall. I say, I cannot tell this without tearing up. 1969: The Stonewall Uprising - Library of Congress Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. Stacker put together a timeline of LGBTQ+ history leading up to Stonewall, beginning with prehistoric events and ending in the late 1960s. Other images in this film are It was narrated by author Rita Mae Brown, directed by Greta Schiller, co-directed by Robert Rosenberg, and co-produced by John Scagliotti and Rosenberg, and Schiller. Vanessa Ezersky Ellinor Mitchell Review: 'Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community' They really were objecting to how they were being treated. The Mafia owned the jukeboxes, they owned the cigarette machines and most of the liquor was off a truck hijacking. Today, that event is seen as the start of the gay civil rights movement, but gay activists and organizations were standing up to harassment and discrimination years before. Danny Garvin:We had thought of women's rights, we had thought of black rights, all kinds of human rights, but we never thought of gay rights, and whenever we got kicked out of a bar before, we never came together. The New York State Liquor Authority refused to issue liquor licenses to many gay bars, and several popular establishments had licenses suspended or revoked for "indecent conduct.". Scott Kardel, Project Administration Before Stonewall (1984) - IMDb Other images in this film are either recreations or drawn from events of the time. Before Stonewall, the activists wanted to fit into society and not rock the boat. Before Stonewall was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival. Narrator (Archival):Richard Enman, president of the Mattachine Society of Florida, whose goal is to legalize homosexuality between consenting adults, was a reluctant participant in tonight's program. Over a short period of time, he will be unable to get sexually aroused to the pictures, and hopefully, he will be unable to get sexually aroused inside, in other settings as well. And I just didn't understand that. 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. And when you got a word, the word was homosexuality and you looked it up. 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." kui Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community I never saw so many gay people dancing in my life. It was a way to vent my anger at being repressed. He pulls all his men inside. So I run down there. And as I'm looking around to see what's going on, police cars, different things happening, it's getting bigger by the minute. ITN Source The events. 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." Before Stonewall - Wikipedia Getting then in the car, rocking them back and forth. BBC Worldwide Americas You knew you could ruin them for life. I grew up in a very Catholic household and the conflict of issues of redemption, of is it possible that if you are this thing called homosexual, is it possible to be redeemed? 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. [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. Martha Shelley:Before Stonewall, the homophile movement was essentially the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis and all of these other little gay organizations, some of which were just two people and a mimeograph machine. Fred Sargeant:Three articles of clothing had to be of your gender or you would be in violation of that law. But that's only partially true. Also, through this fight, the "LGBT" was born. 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. Michael Dolan, Technical Advisors The mob was saying, you know, "Screw you, cops, you think you can come in a bust us up? We love to hear from our listeners! Frank Kameny Before Stonewall. (Enter your ZIP code for information on American Experience events and screening in your area.). Raymond Castro:So then I got pushed back in, into the Stonewall by these plain clothes cops and they would not let me out, they didn't let anybody out. 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. Eric Marcus, Recreation Still Photography Alexis Charizopolis The Catholic Church, be damned to hell. And Dick Leitsch, who was the head of the Mattachine Society said, "Who's in favor?" MacDonald & Associates That never happened before. That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:All throughout the 60s in New York City, the period when the New York World's Fair was attracting visitors from all over America and all over the world. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:Saturday night there it was. And there, we weren't allowed to be alone, the police would raid us still. Alexandra Meryash Nikolchev, On-Line Editors Queer was very big. And she was quite crazy. It won the Best Film Award at the Houston International Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature at Filmex, First Place at the National Educational Film Festival, and Honorable Mention at the Global Village Documentary Festival. Dick Leitsch:There were Black Panthers and there were anti-war people. I went in there and they took bats and just busted that place up. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:What they did in the Stonewall that night. Ed Koch, mayorof New York City from1978 to 1989, discussesgay civil rights in New York in the 1960s. The homosexual, bitterly aware of his rejection, responds by going underground. That was our world, that block. And we all relaxed. Fred Sargeant:When it was clear that things were definitely over for the evening, we decided we needed to do something more. And you will be caught, don't think you won't be caught, because this is one thing you cannot get away with. But it's serious, don't kid yourselves about it. [7] In 1987, the film won Emmy Awards for Best Historical/Cultural Program and Best Research. Stonewall Forever is a documentary from NYC's LGBT Community Center directed by Ro Haber. So I got into the subway, and on the car was somebody I recognized and he said, "I've never been so scared in my life," and I said, "Well, please let there be more than ten of us, just please let there be more than ten of us. You know, it's just, everybody was there. If there had been a riot of that proportion in Harlem, my God, you know, there'd have been cameras everywhere. Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives Scott McPartland/Getty Images 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. It was right in the center of where we all were. 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. A sickness that was not visible like smallpox, but no less dangerous and contagious. Mike Wallace (Archival):The average homosexual, if there be such, is promiscuous. Daily News The lights came on, it's like stop dancing. And today we're talking about Stonewall, which were both pretty anxious about so anxious. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. Doric Wilson:There was joy because the cops weren't winning. Guest Post: What I Learned From Revisiting My 1984 Documentary "Before Danny Garvin:It was a chance to find love. 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. You were alone. In addition to interviews with activists and scholars, the film includes the reflections of renowned writer Allen Ginsberg. That night, the police ran from us, the lowliest of the low. Narrator (Archival):This is a nation of laws. Homosexuality was a dishonorable discharge in those days, and you couldn't get a job afterwards. Activists had been working for change long before Stonewall. Susana Fernandes 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. Well, it was a nightmare for the lesbian or gay man who was arrested and caught up in this juggernaut, but it was also a nightmare for the lesbians or gay men who lived in the closet. It was as bad as any situation that I had met in during the army, had just as much to worry about. Raymond Castro:If that light goes on, you know to stop whatever you're doing, and separate. Pamela Gaudiano Obama signed the memorandum to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. John O'Brien:Our goal was to hurt those police. You see these cops, like six or eight cops in drag. And the first gay power demonstration to my knowledge was against my story inThe Village Voiceon Wednesday. In 1999, producer Scagliotti directed a companion piece, After Stonewall. This is every year in New York City. A word that would be used in the 1960s for gay men and lesbians. It eats you up inside. Tires were slashed on police cars and it just went on all night long. A sickness of the mind. And then as you turned into the other room with the jukebox, those were the drag queens around the jukebox. 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. Oh, tell me about your anxiety. And the rest of your life will be a living hell. Trevor, Post Production Meanwhile, there was crowds forming outside the Stonewall, wanting to know what was going on. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:This was the Rosa Parks moment, the time that gay people stood up and said no. One never knows when the homosexual is about. In the trucks or around the trucks. 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. Danny Garvin:There was more anger and more fight the second night. 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. This Restored Documentary Examines What LGBTQ Lives Were Like Before Genre: Documentary, History, Drama. 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. Don't fire until I fire. Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:So you're outside, and you see like two people walking toward these trucks and you think, "Oh I think I'll go in there," you go in there, there's like a lot of people in there and it's all dark. Before Stonewall. John O'Brien:The election was in November of 1969 and this was the summer of 1969, this was June. Dick Leitsch:And the blocks were small enough that we could run around the block and come in behind them before they got to the next corner. Cause we could feel a sense of love for each other that we couldn't show out on the street, because you couldn't show any affection out on the street. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Well, we did use the small hoses on the fire extinguishers. Martha Shelley:If you were in a small town somewhere, everybody knew you and everybody knew what you did and you couldn't have a relationship with a member of your own sex, period. But after the uprising, polite requests for change turned into angry demands. Barak Goodman Narrator (Archival):We arrested homosexuals who committed their lewd acts in public places. It was tremendous freedom. It eats you up inside not being comfortable with yourself. 'Before Stonewall' Tracks the Pre-Movement Era | International Lester Senior Housing Community, Jewish Community Housing Corporation You know, all of a sudden, I had brothers and sisters, you know, which I didn't have before. As kids, we played King Kong. And all of a sudden, pandemonium broke loose. That's more an uprising than a riot. Jerry Hoose:Gay people who had good jobs, who had everything in life to lose, were starting to join in. Cause I was from the streets. This produced an enormous amount of anger within the lesbian and gay community in New York City and in other parts of America. The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. 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. 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. There were gay bars in Midtown, there were gay bars uptown, there were certain kinds of gay bars on the Upper East Side, you know really, really, really buttoned-up straight gay bars. And I ran into Howard Smith on the street,The Village Voicewas right there. "Daybreak Express" by D.A. We don't know. Transcript of Re-Release: The Stonewall | Happy Scribe But I was just curious, I didn't want to participate because number one it was so packed. They could be judges, lawyers. And it just seemed like, fantastic because the background was this industrial, becoming an industrial ruin, it was a masculine setting, it was a whole world. Martin Boyce Dana Gaiser It was like a reward. I said, "I can go in with you?" 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 LGBT community. Before Stonewall 1984 Unrated 1 h 27 m IMDb RATING 7.5 /10 1.1K YOUR RATING Rate Play trailer 2:21 1 Video 7 Photos Documentary History The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. 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. Like, "Joe, if you fire your gun without me saying your name and the words 'fire,' you will be walking a beat on Staten Island all alone on a lonely beach for the rest of your police career. John O'Brien:And then somebody started a fire, they started with little lighters and matches. Before Stonewall (1984) - Plot Summary - IMDb 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. The cops would hide behind the walls of the urinals. Prisoner (Archival):I realize that, but the thing is that for life I'll be wrecked by this record, see? And I hadn't had enough sleep, so I was in a somewhat feverish state, and I thought, "We have to do something, we have to do something," and I thought, "We have to have a protest march of our own." I mean I'm only 19 and this'll ruin me. Why 'Before Stonewall' Was Such a Hard Movie to Make - The Atlantic The mayor of New York City, the police commissioner, were under pressure to clean up the streets of any kind of quote unquote "weirdness." You know, Howard's concern was and my concern was that if all hell broke loose, they'd just start busting heads. What finally made sense to me was the first time I kissed a woman and I thought, "Oh, this is what it's about." That was scary, very scary. WPA Film Library, Thanks to And a whole bunch of people who were in the paddy wagon ran out. It meant nothing to us. 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. This was in front of the police. A lot of them had been thrown out of their families. For those kisses. Almost anything you could name. Dick Leitsch:We wore suits and ties because we wanted people, in the public, who were wearing suits and ties, to identify with us. Cop (Archival):Anyone can walk into that men's room, any child can walk in there, and see what you guys were doing. All of the rules that I had grown up with, and that I had hated in my guts, other people were fighting against, and saying "No, it doesn't have to be this way.". John O'Brien Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:But there were little, tiny pin holes in the plywood windows, I'll call them the windows but they were plywood, and we could look out from there and every time I went over and looked out through one of those pin holes where he did, we were shocked at how big the crowd had become. They can be anywhere. 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. Stonewall Forever Explore the monument Watch the documentary Download the AR app About & FAQ Privacy Policy Kanopy - Stream Classic Cinema, Indie Film and Top Documentaries . Just let's see if they can. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Well, I had to act like I wasn't nervous. 400 Plankinton Ave. Compton's Cafeteria Raid, San Francisco, California, 1966 Coopers Do-Nut Raid, Los Angeles, California, 1959 Pepper Hill Club Raid, Baltimore, Maryland in 1955. And this went on for hours. 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. I mean I'm talking like sardines. From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:There were gay bars all over town, not just in Greenwich Village. These homosexuals glorify unnatural sex acts. In the Life Before Stonewall - Trailer - YouTube I would get in the back of the car and they would say, "We're going to go see faggots." Samual Murkofsky Eric Marcus, Writer:Before Stonewall, there was no such thing as coming out or being out. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Gay rights, like the rights of blacks, were constantly under attack and while blacks were protected by constitutional amendments coming out of the Civil War, gays were not protected by law and certainly not the Constitution. A gay rights march in New York in favor of the 1968 Civil Rights Act being amended to include gay rights. But we had to follow up, we couldn't just let that be a blip that disappeared. Then during lunch, Ralph showed him some pornographic pictures. A medievalist. But we couldn't hold out very long. We didn't want to come on, you know, wearing fuzzy sweaters and lipstick, you know, and being freaks. Raymond Castro 'Cause I really realized that I was being trained as a straight person, so I could really fool these people. And in a sense the Stonewall riots said, "Get off our backs, deliver on the promise." 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. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:The moment you stepped out that door there would be hundreds facing you. John van Hoesen And so Howard said, "We've got police press passes upstairs." Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:There were all these articles in likeLife Magazineabout how the Village was liberal and people that were called homosexuals went there.