The Stonewall Riots
A Documentary History
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On the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary, the most important moment in LGBTQ history?depicted by the people who influenced, recorded, and reacted to it.
June 28, 1969, Greenwich Village: The New York City Police Department, fueled by bigoted liquor licensing practices and an omnipresent backdrop of homophobia and transphobia, raided the Stonewall Inn, a neighborhood gay bar, in the middle of the night. The raid was met with a series of responses that would go down in history as the most galvanizing period in this country's fight for sexual and gender liberation: a riotous reaction from the bar's patrons and surrounding community, followed by six days of protests.
Across 200 documents, Marc Stein presents a unique record of the lessons and legacies of Stonewall. Drawing from sources that include mainstream, alternative, and LGBTQ media, gay-bar guide listings, state court decisions, political fliers, first-person accounts, song lyrics, and photographs, Stein paints an indelible portrait of this pivotal moment in the LGBT movement. In The Stonewall Riots, Stein does not construct a neatly quilted, streamlined narrative of Greenwich Village, its people, and its protests; instead, he allows multiple truths to find their voices and speak to one another, much like the conversations you'd expect to overhear in your neighborhood bar.
Published on the fiftieth anniversary of the moment the first brick (or shot glass?) was thrown, The Stonewall Riots allows readers to take stock of how LGBTQ life has changed in the US, and how it has stayed the same. It offers campy stories of queer resistance, courageous accounts of movements and protests, powerful narratives of police repression, and lesser-known stories otherwise buried in the historical record, from an account of ball culture in the mid-sixties to a letter by Black Panther Huey P. Newton addressed to his brothers and sisters in the resistance. For anyone committed to political activism and social justice, The Stonewall Riots provides a much-needed resource for renewal and empowerment.
About this Author
Marc Stein is the Jamie and Phyllis Pasker Professor of History at San Francisco State University. He is the author of Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement (2012), Sexual Injustice: Supreme Court Decisions from Griswold to Roe (2010), and City of Sisterly and Brotherly Loves: Lesbian and Gay Philadelphia (2000), and the editor of the Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America (2003).
Reviews
"When you?re trying to figure out what Stonewall meant to people at the time, these documents, many of which were first printed in the couple of years afterward, are indispensable."
"A generous survey of LGBTQ lives before and after the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in June 1969, Steins research fills in gaps in the American history of the fight for free expression of sexuality...A valuable resource for high school, college, and public libraries, Steins work offers reasons for pride and hope."
"[A] mosaic of the cultural and political realities before, during, and after the riots. The book reflects both the brilliance and contradictions of a multifaceted history...Stein's reflective curation is an important contribution to understanding what Stonewall was and what it represents...illuminating."
"A comprehensive collection of 200 transcribed documents from the early stages of the LGBTQ rights movement. Stein is a capable curator...[A] worthwhile dive into LGBTQ history."
"The Stonewall Riotsis an invaluable addition to LGBTQ+ history, gathering for the first time a wealth of primary documents that will deepen understanding of a pivotal, culture-changing event."
"The fiftieth anniversary of Stonewall is coming up this summer, and this documentary history is the perfect way to celebrate the occasion ... a fascinating glimpse into the struggles and the triumphs of a movement that shaped the world we know today."
"The Stonewall Riots is an invaluable addition to the existing literature on the LBGT movement and the sexual revolution. It is a perfect tribute to the LGBT resistance struggle that has shaped the modern world."
"An encyclopedic work that invites readers to look past legends and examine primary documents for themselves? a must read for students and scholars of LGBT history."
"Stein confronts the twists and turns of Stonewall?s gordian knot."
"In assembling The Stonewall Riots, an evocative, clarifying collection of original sources organized meticulously and introduced with intelligence and insight, Marc Stein has made a brilliant contribution to our understanding of this iconic event."
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