Will Shoopman

10/8/22

Professor Noel

Stonewall Riots and the Media

Most of the American people remember the 1960’s as a time of change. America had

their youngest president to date in John F Kennedy. The American people went through the civil

rights movement where segregation ended, and the Cuban missile crisis where everyone was

worried about war breaking out. At the very end of the decade, change was still in the heads of

many in New York City. In the summer of 1969 the Stonewall Riots took place in which police

raided the Stonewall Inn but were met with people feeling that this was unjust. The people of the

gay community took to the streets to try and get their point across. The Stonewall Riots gained

media attention from big newspaper companies all around New York either praising the riots or

belittling the people who took part in them. Most people will say that it doesn’t matter what the

media said about the riots since it's just reporting. However reporters can have their own views

and that will slip into their report. Looking at newspaper articles from 1969 to 1980 there are a

lot of mixed opinions. In 1969 it was the cultural norm to not support the gay community so

there are some articles critizing the riots.

The 1900’s were a time of blooming innovation, with technology and medicine. Over the

span of one hundred years from the 1900’s to the 2000’s we have seen the United States turn

from an unfair society where only white men had rights to a civilization that gives everyone a

fair chance in life and where everyone has equal rights. The sixties were a time of change. The

civil rights movement was almost over with segregation on the decline. At the end of the decade,
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however, another certain group of people were fighting for change. In New York City, 1969 a

local bar called the Stonewall Inn was a gathering place for gay rights activist.

The sixties were not good times for members of the LGBTQ+, so much so that samesex

relations were outlawed in New York. These individuals would go to bars such as Stonewall not

only for safety but to also express themselves however they pleased1. The Inn was a safe haven

for these people, a place where there was no judgment and a place to meet friends or lovers. The

inn was one of the only places at the time for the gay community to feel welcomed. If the

community were to lose the inn the gay community wouldn’t be able to find another place like

this one. The Stonewall Inn was made in the mid-sixties when a crime family named Genovese

thought they could make money serving members of the LGBTQ+ since no one wanted to serve

them2. The Inn was a private bottle bar meaning guests brought their own alcohol and so this bar

didn’t have or need an alcohol license3. When police started to come around to Stonewall the

Genovese family bribed the sixth precinct to ignore it4. Without the police coming over the

family could cut back on things they needed in the bar such as running water to clean and no fire

exits, finally black mailing their wealthier patrons who wanted to keep their sexuality hidden 5.

Stonewall was very important to the LGBTQ+ community during this time since it was

very cheap to enter, welcomed everybody, and was one of the few gay bars that allowed dancing.

Police raids did happen but the bar was usually tipped off in time to hide all of the illegal alcohol

they were serving. But on June 28th, 1969 there was no tip off 6. The police came with a warrant

and roughed up patrons of the bar. They found counterfeit alcohol, arrested thirteen people, and
1 Sarah Pruitt, “What Happened at the Stonewall Riots? A Timeline of the 1969 Uprising,” History.com
(A&E Television Networks, June 13, 2019), https://www.history.com/news/stonewall-riots-timeline.
2 Pruitt, “What Happened at the Stonewall Riots?”
3 Pruitt, “What Happened at the Stonewall Riots?”
4 Pruitt, “What Happened at the Stonewall Riots?”
5 Pruitt, “What Happened at the Stonewall Riots?”
6 History.com Editors, “Stonewall Riots,” History.com (A&E Television Networks, May 31, 2017),
https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots.
 3

did illegal searches to determine the sex of some patrons7. When the patrons were told to leave

they stayed around angry at the discrimination and harrasment they had gotten from the police.

When someone was arrested, an officer hit them over the head before putting them into their car.

The victim shouted out for people to act, and act they did. The crowd started to throw whatever

they could from pennies to bottle caps until they incited a riot of over one hundred people within

the span of minutes8. The police backed themselves into the bar and when they did the rioters set

the place on fire. The fire department put out the flames and the riot squad was called to disperse

the people9.

The next day the bar was reopened. Many supporters of the business came to see the

reopening, chanting and shouting “Gay Power”. Yet again the police were called to restore order

and so the police beat the supporters and tear gassed them until the crowd dispersed 10. Over the

next few nights gay rights activists gathered at Stonewall to spread information that would help

the fight and grow the gay rights movement. The police came again but were less confrontational

than the past few days11. There were still little brawls but nowhere near the size of the riots from

a few days prior12. Newspaper companies all over New York had something to say about the

events. The New York Times wrote sparingly at this time not putting their own feelings into the

issue.

People remember the 1960s mainly for the fact that it was rampant with social change for

African Americans with the civil rights movement. There are a few who remember it for the

Stonewall Riots that happened at the end of the decade and there are fewer who remember

7 A&E, “Stonewall Riots”

8 A&E, “Stonewall Riots”
9 A&E, “Stonewall Riots”
10 A&E, “Stonewall Riots”
11 A&E, “Stonewall Riots”
12 A&E, “Stonewall Riots”
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Stonewall for the media coverage around the event. Even though it seems not that important

talking about the media, many scholars beg to differ.

In an article labeled “Recipe For Attention”, scholars agree that without the media

coverage Stonewall received, it wouldn’t have gotten the recognition that it has gained. Before

the Stonewall Riots the gay activist community had gotten zero coverage in newspapers on a

national scale. This article examines newspaper coverage from New York Times, Los Angeles

Times, and The Wall Street Journal from 1969 to the present day. These specific newspapers are

seen on a national scale, having thousands of articles everyone on both sides of the political

spectrum can see. Even if people don’t support the gay activist movement they are still talking

about it giving more exposure. Before Stonewall the New York Times only had five mentions of

LGBTQ+ organizations, but by 1972 that number jumped up to fifty-six only three years after13.

The study also shows that the LGBTQ+ movement is less socially diverse than ones that fight for

civil rights and government protection, but just like the civil rights movement the LGBTQ+

movement was spawned through a public crisis14.

Alex Neumann wrote an article describing San Francisco’s gay activist community and

how the media protrayed them. The article establishes that before Stonewall took place, San

Francisco already had a very active gay activist community and had been protesting for a while 15.

Most of the people who made up this activist group were World War II veterans who were just

coming back. Out of sixteen million soldiers at least 650,000 who were apart of the gay

community16. These veterans expanded the already active gay culture that was in San Francisco

13 Elliott, Thomas Alan, Edwin Amenta, and Neal Caren. “Recipes for Attention: Policy Reforms, Crises,
Organizational Characteristics, and the Newspaper Coverage of the LGBT Movement, 1969–2009.”
Sociological Forum 31, no. 4 (2016): 926–47. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24878801.
14 Elliot “Recipes for Attention: Policy Reforms, Crises, Organizational Characteristics” page 3
15 Alex Neumann, “Pre-Stonewall San Francisco: How Organizations and Resistance to Police ...,”
accessed October 11, 2022,
https://roundtable.menloschool.org/issue23/3_Neumann_MS_Roundtable23_Winter_2016.pdf.
16 Neumann “Pre-Stonewall San Francisco” page 2
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in the 1950s and 1960s. However in 1965 San Francisco had a Stonewall of their own. Police

raided the New Year’s Eve Ball where around six hundred people of the gay community

attended17. The police stated that they would stay away from the ball, but the San Francisco

police put a squad car at every entrance and took pictures of everyone entering and leaving 18.

When the activists were asked to leave the police ended up arresting four people for interfering

with them. The very next day an organization called The Council of Religion and Homosexual

held a press conference criticizing the police which gained national attention from the media and

since they were very quick to release their story a lot of the media coverage that came after from

other newspapers was pro-gay and anti police19.

When the Stonewall Riots were happening local and big company newspapers were

reporting on what exactly happened. Some were reporting without their own opinion while

others were putting a little bit of what was on their mind into their report as well. A few months

after the events of Stonewall took place a newspaper called “Come Out, a Newspaper by and for

The Gay Community” wrote about the subject. The article it examines a different newspaper

“The Village Voice'' claiming that the voice writers weren’t interested in the civil rights aspect of

the riots but more on how people reacted to the riots20. Of course a newspaper for the gay

community would be in support of Stonewall, however instead of reporting on Stonewall itself

the writers insisted on expressing their disgust with how other papers reported on the topic. The

article exclaimed that “The Village Voice” used derogatory terms to describe the people at the

riots and cared more about the police officers that were harassed at Stonewall.

17 Neumann “Pre-Stonewall San Francisco” page 7

18 Neumann “Pre-Stonewall San Francisco” page 7
19 Neumann “Pre-Stonewall San Francisco” page 7
20 John Lawritz, Marty Stephan, Martha Shelley, Leo Martello, Lois Hart, Mike Brown, Marty Robinson, et
al. “Come Out!” Come Out! 1, no. 1 (November 14, 1969). https://jstor.org/stable/community.28035043.
 6

The Article takes jabs at the writer The Village Voice, Walter Troy Spencer. Spencer

makes claims towards Stonewall. However he did not use that terminology. He called it “The

Great Faggot Rebellion”. He continues by calling the rebellion anti-democratic because of the

members only policy21. It seems as though the writers of Come-Out took offense to how the riots

were described, but it seems as though the writers of The Village Voice were simply reporting on

the report and the aftermath of the report.

“Off Our Backs A Woman’s News Journal” made in 1970 a year after the riots happened.

The article examines what exactly happened at Stonewall and that the area of New York that

Stonewall is located is “The Capitol of Homosexulatity”22. After the riots took place a few

people took initiative and made the New York Gay Liberation Front in which members of the

gay community wanted to talk about the fights that took place in the streets23. The Gay liberation

Front has spread to many cities and campuses to make the Gay liberation Movement. The article

claims that with the anniversary celebration of Stonewall where tens of thousands of gay men

and women go into the streets of Greenwich Village to participate in dancing, in workshops, and

informal rap sessions24. This article doesn’t put the author’s own opinion into it when articles

such as Come Out or The Village Voice did. In those articles it either is saying how they don’t

support what happened at Stonewall along with hateful words towards the gay community or

calling out the writers of a newspaper that they do not support.

Come out touched upon The Village Voice for a moment. The Voice’s article came out on

July 3, 1969. The author claims that “the forces of faggotry were spurred on Friday night at the

longest lived gay bar The Stonewall Inn.25” The article examines the phrases “gay power” and “I
21 Lawritz, “Come Out!” page 3
22 “Gay Gala.” Off Our Backs 1, no. 7 (1970): 14–14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25771086.
23 “Gay Gala.” Off Our Backs 1, no. 7 (1970): 14–14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25771086. Page 1
24 “Gay Gala.” Off Our Backs 1, no. 7 (1970): 14–14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25771086. Page 1
25 “The Village Voice,” Google News Archive Search (Google), accessed October 10, 2022,
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=KEtq3P1Vf8oC&dat=19690703&printsec=frontpage&hl=en.
 7

like boys and I’m proud” are the slogans used at the riots26. The author’s personal opinions show

in the writing of this article. Using derogatory terms is a clear indicator. The Village Voice

exclaims what happened the next Friday with police coming back which incited the second night

of the riots, when three “drag queens” got loaded in the police cruiser voices from the crowd

spoke up and they wanted to push the cruiser over but couldn’t since they drove off27. More and

more people had to leave the Stonewall Inn. The writer continues to use derogatory terms such as

how a “dyke” was escorted out into a cruiser.

Miscellaneous clips in 1970 found from an online database that does not have the name

of their paper in the article. The article remembers the Stonewall Riots with the title, “The year

that one liberation movement turned militant, Homosexuals in Revolt.” 28 The article follows the

aftermath of the Stonewall Riots. In spring of 1970 a bill was delayed in the house that

guaranteed equal job opportunities for the gay community and the people of the community did

not take this news well29. People went to the capitol with fists raised chanting “Gay Power” in

protest along with a wedding cake that displayed two men on the top of it30. The writers claim

that this was the most shocking liberation movement yet. However the Stonewall Riots seem to

be better known in history. The article claims that in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots the

last week of June was now known as gay liberation week and was celebrated with a parade. The

people in this parade walked two miles from the gay activist headquarters to a park close to City

Hall31. This is reporting without any bias or opinion, not using any terms that would be deemed

offensive and not supporting what these writers are reporting on.

26 “The Village Voice” page 2

27 “The Village Voice” page 3
28 [Miscellaneous Clippings]. 1970-2014, Undated, Item 112. Documents. [Miscellaneous Clippings].
1970-2014, Undated, 1970. https://jstor.org/stable/community.32540705.
29 “Miscellaneous Clippings” page 1
30 “Miscellaneous Clippings” page 1
31 “Miscellaneous Clippings” page 2
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An article made by presumably someone in the gay community, called “Gay Flames”

with the title being “We’re Fighting Back!” The writer uses words such as our which confirms

that this was made by and for the gay community. In the article it exclaims that for most of our

lives we have been forced to stay hidden, in places that were put aside for us such as the

Village32. The article then summarizes what happened at Stonewall but then claims that “we’ve

made one of our biggest moves yet”33. During the span of a few weeks police have been bursting

into this community’s places such as Forty-Second Street, so many gay activist groups such as

The Gay Liberation Front, Radical Lesbians, and Third World Gay Revolution went to make a

demonstration. Five hundred people of the gay community marched down Forty-Second Street

chanting “gay power” and then went to Thirty-Fifth Street police department to show that they

were done with the harassment34. The activists heard of a rumor that a place close by got raided

but when they saw that it was false police came at the activists with billy clubs and after this a

riot started in a place called The House of D where two floors were burned35. Later the police got

the activists off the streets and then the police started throwing bottles so the activists threw them

back36. This led to a lot of people hurt and beaten along with arrests. The article states that “they

won '', they took Weinstein Hall for their dance because of all the people who were marching and

chanting. The reason they took Weinstein Hall was the hall’s close proximity to City Hall. The

people who administer the building had no choice but to give in37. Yet another article in support

of the gay community but this was made by an activist so we can see one side of the argument.

32 Gary Alinderrichard Jones, and John Perry. Gay Flames. Pamphlets. Gay Flames. New York, NY: Gay
Liberation Front, 1970. https://jstor.org/stable/community.28037171.

33 Jones, “Gay Flames” page 1

34 Jones, “Gay Flames” page 1
35 Jones, “Gay Flames” page 1
36 Jones, “Gay Flames” page 2
37 Jones, “Gay Flames” page 2
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It's well known that these activists weren’t treated right but to see a deep dive into this side of the

argument is intriguing.

Dick Leitsch was president of the New York Mattachine Society, an activist, and a

journalist in the 1960s. He was an eyewitness of what happened at Stonewall. Leitsch claims that

during the protests at Sheridan Square Park it wasn’t just the gay community protesting. The

weekend tourists joined the crowd at first asking what was happening. When the tourists were

told that the gay community was protesting the closing of the Stonewall Inn the tourists felt very

sympathetic and stayed to watch and some even joined38. One tourist couple went up to an officer

saying “he should be ashamed of himself.39” As the protest grew the people began to move into

the streets. The protesters began to slow down traffic and stopped a bus. The police got the

protesters to let the bus pass but before they did the protesters ripped the advertisement card off

the side of the bus. The police called for backup and when another cop showed up his cruiser

was met with a cinder block. More police came, over one hundred to diffuse the situation. The

police used their billy clubs on the protestors and by 2:30 in the morning the protestors

disbursed. An eyewitness account is very important in a historical context. If the media were to

lie about the details of the riots Leitsch could rebuttal against other journalists.

The media coverage about the Stonewall Riots has allowed the social change of how

people view the gay community. Most of the newspapers have been pro LGBTQ+ and anti

police. Before Stonewall the gay community hadn’t seen praise but after many newspapers had

articles giving only that. This has helped the gay community to gain recognition from people

who would look over the community. Over the course of a few years talking about the gay

community has became a social norm instead of the topic not being talked about. We have seen
38 Jason Baumann and Edmund White, The Stonewall Reader: Edited by the New York Public Library
(New York: Penguin Classics, 2019), 9.
39 Jason Baumann and Edmund White, The Stonewall Reader: Edited by the New York Public Library
(New York: Penguin Classics, 2019), 9.
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growth in the rights of the gay community over a few decades that we wouldn’t have seen

without the riots.

Bibliography

Pruitt, Sarah. “What Happened at the Stonewall Riots? A Timeline of the 1969 Uprising.”

History.com. A&E Television Networks, June 13, 2019.

https://www.history.com/news/stonewall-riots-timeline.

History.com Editors. “Stonewall Riots.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, May 31,

2017. https://www.history.com/topics/gay-rights/the-stonewall-riots.

“The Village Voice.” Google News Archive Search. Google. Accessed October 10, 2022.

https://news.google.com/newspapers?

nid=KEtq3P1Vf8oC&dat=19690703&printsec=frontpage&hl=en.

John Lawritz, Marty Stephan, Martha Shelley, Leo Martello, Lois Hart, Mike Brown, Marty

Robinson, et al. “Come Out!” Come Out! 1, no. 1 (November 14, 1969).

https://jstor.org/stable/community.28035043.

Gary Alinderrichard Jones, and John Perry. Gay Flames. Pamphlets. Gay Flames. New York,

NY: Gay Liberation Front, 1970. https://jstor.org/stable/community.28037171.

[Miscellaneous Clippings]. 1970-2014, Undated, Item 112. Documents. [Miscellaneous

Clippings]. 1970-2014, Undated, 1970. https://jstor.org/stable/community.32540705.

“Gay Gala.” Off Our Backs 1, no. 7 (1970): 14–14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25771086.

Elliott, Thomas Alan, Edwin Amenta, and Neal Caren. “Recipes for Attention: Policy Reforms,

Crises, Organizational Characteristics, and the Newspaper Coverage of the LGBT Movement,
 11

1969–2009.” Sociological Forum 31, no. 4 (2016): 926–47.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/24878801.

Neumann, Alex. “Pre-Stonewall San Francisco: How Organizations and Resistance to

Police ...” Accessed October 11, 2022.

https://roundtable.menloschool.org/issue23/3_Neumann_MS_Roundtable23_Winter_2016.

pdf.

Baumann, Jason, and Edmund White. The Stonewall Reader: Edited by the New York

Public Library. New York: Penguin Classics, 2019.