Producers Library Now, 50 years later, the film is back. Mayor John Lindsay, like most mayors, wanted to get re-elected. 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. 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. I wanted to kill those cops for the anger I had in me. 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. Patricia Yusah, Marketing and Communications The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States. Stonewall Forever Explore the monument Watch the documentary Download the AR app About & FAQ Privacy Policy [00:00:55] Oh, my God. And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble. I said, "I can go in with you?" A medievalist. Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free dramatic stories from the early 1900's onwards of public and private existence as experienced by LGBT Americans. Because as the police moved back, we were conscious, all of us, of the area we were controlling and now we were in control of the area because we were surrounded the bar, we were moving in, they were moving back. As president of the Mattachine Society in New York, I tried to negotiate with the police and the mayor. Gay people were not powerful enough politically to prevent the clampdown and so you had a series of escalating skirmishes in 1969. You know, all of a sudden, I had brothers and sisters, you know, which I didn't have before. It was a leaflet that attacked the relationship of the police and the Mafia and the bars that we needed to see ended. One time, a bunch of us ran into somebody's car and locked the door and they smashed the windows in. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world. 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. 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. The award-winning documentary film, Before Stonewall, which was released theatrically and broadcast on PBS television in 1984, explored the history of the lesbian and gay rights movement in the United States prior to 1969. And they started smashing their heads with clubs. 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. Because if you don't have extremes, you don't get any moderation. I learned, very early, that those horrible words were about me, that I was one of those people. TV Host (Archival):And Sonia is that your own hair? 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. As you read, keep in mind that LGBTQ+ is a relatively new term and, while queer people have always existed, the terminology has changed frequently over the years. Long before marriage equality, non-binary gender identity, and the flood of new documentaries commemorating this month's 50th anniversary of the Greenwich Village uprising that begat the gay rights movement, there was Greta Schiller's Before Stonewall.Originally released in 1984as AIDS was slowly killing off many of those bar patrons-turned-revolutionariesthe film, through the use of . Clever. Susana Fernandes Dana Kirchoff Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:The Stonewall pulled in everyone from every part of gay life. Then during lunch, Ralph showed him some pornographic pictures. 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. They were the storm troopers. We didn't expect we'd ever get to Central Park. But we had to follow up, we couldn't just let that be a blip that disappeared. Colonial House He is not interested in, nor capable of a lasting relationship like that of a heterosexual marriage. It was as if they were identifying a thing. 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. The Laramie Project Cast at The Calhoun School That summer, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in Greenwich Village. You know. Martin Boyce:It was thrilling. In 1969 it was common for police officers to rough up a gay bar and ask for payoffs. Paul Bosche Giles Kotcher Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt:Those of us that were the street kids we didn't think much about the past or the future. Trevor, Post Production Slate:The Homosexual(1967), CBS Reports. On June 27, 1969, police raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York. Revealing and. Calling 'em names, telling 'em how good-looking they were, grabbing their butts. If that didn't work, they would do things like aversive conditioning, you know, show you pornography and then give you an electric shock. So it was a perfect storm for the police. Jerry Hoose:The police would come by two or three times a night. Stacker put together a timeline of LGBTQ+ history leading up to Stonewall, beginning with prehistoric events and ending in the late 1960s. They can be anywhere. Doing things like that. Prisoner (Archival):I realize that, but the thing is that for life I'll be wrecked by this record, see? I mean it didn't stop after that. I say, I cannot tell this without tearing up. 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. 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. The scenes were photographed with telescopic lenses. The groundbreaking 1984 film "Before Stonewall" introduced audiences to some of the key players and places that helped spark the Greenwich Village riots. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:In states like New York, there were a whole basket of crimes that gay people could be charged with. by David Carter, Associate Producer and Advisor Participants of the 1969 Greenwich Village uprising describe the effect that Stonewall had on their lives. It was one of the things you did in New York, it was like the Barnum and Bailey aspect of it. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:This was the Rosa Parks moment, the time that gay people stood up and said no. Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn has undergone several transformations in the decades since it was the focal point of a three-day riot in 1969. They were afraid that the FBI was following them. I really thought that, you know, we did it. It was nonsense, it was nonsense, it was all the people there, that were reacting and opposing what was occurring. Scott McPartland/Getty Images Synopsis. Barak Goodman You know, Howard's concern was and my concern was that if all hell broke loose, they'd just start busting heads. And Howard said, "Boy there's like a riot gonna happen here," and I said, "yeah." 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. All of this stuff was just erupting like a -- as far as they were considered, like a gigantic boil on the butt of America. Get the latest on new films and digital content, learn about events in your area, and get your weekly fix of American history. Interviewer (Archival):Are you a homosexual? 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. You throw into that, that the Stonewall was raided the previous Tuesday night. They frequent their own clubs, and bars and coffee houses, where they can escape the disapproving eye of the society that they call straight. 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. Jerry Hoose:I was chased down the street with billy clubs. Gay people were never supposed to be threats to police officers. Greg Shea, Legal And that's what it was, it was a war. Andrea Weiss is a documentary filmmaker and author with a Ph.D. in American History. 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. Almost anything you could name. Do you understand me?". You know, it's just, everybody was there. A year earlier, young gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police near a bar called The Stonewall Inn. They were just holding us almost like in a hostage situation where you don't know what's going to happen next. Michael Dolan, Technical Advisors In the Life From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. And they were gay. The mirrors, all the bottles of liquor, the jukebox, the cigarette machines. In an effort to avoid being anachronistic . 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. Is that conceivable? and I didn't see anything but a forest of hands. The medical experimentation in Atascadero included administering, to gay people, a drug that simulated the experience of drowning; in other words, a pharmacological example of waterboarding. Martin Boyce:I had cousins, ten years older than me, and they had a car sometimes. But that's only partially true. Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. This produced an enormous amount of anger within the lesbian and gay community in New York City and in other parts of America. Leroy S. Mobley Slate:The Homosexuals(1967), CBS Reports. 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. The overwhelming number of medical authorities said that homosexuality was a mental defect, maybe even a form of psychopathy. Fifty years ago, a riot broke out at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village. Martha Shelley:We participated in demonstrations in Philadelphia at Independence Hall. Scott Kardel, Project Administration Hear more of the conversation and historical interviews at the audio link. That's what happened on June 28, but as people were released, the night took an unusual turn when protesters and police clashed. I didn't think I could have been any prettier than that night. Vanessa Ezersky Gay bars were always on side streets out of the way in neighborhoods that nobody would go into. Homosexuality was a dishonorable discharge in those days, and you couldn't get a job afterwards. It's not my cup of tea. Martin Boyce:Oh, Miss New Orleans, she wouldn't be stopped. It was right in the center of where we all were. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:It was always hands up, what do you want? 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. June 21, 2019 1:29 PM EDT. The severity of the punishment varies from state to state. The Catholic Church, be damned to hell. 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. 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. Somebody grabbed me by the leg and told me I wasn't going anywhere. Judy Laster They would not always just arrest, they would many times use clubs and beat. Tom Caruso Mary Queen of the Scotch, Congo Woman, Captain Faggot, Miss Twiggy. And the Village has a lot of people with children and they were offended. Doric Wilson:And we were about 100, 120 people and there were people lining the sidewalks ahead of us to watch us go by, gay people, mainly. Danny Garvin Marjorie Duffield 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. Sophie Cabott Black 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. Alexis Charizopolis John O'Brien:If a gay man is caught by the police and is identified as being involved in what they called lewd, immoral behavior, they would have their person's name, their age and many times their home address listed in the major newspapers. 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. Leaflets in the 60s were like the internet, today. It was like a reward. Narrator (Archival):This is a nation of laws. Raymond Castro:If that light goes on, you know to stop whatever you're doing, and separate. The newly restored 1984 documentary "Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community," re-released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the seminal Stonewall riots, remains a .