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"In the early hours of June 28, 1969, eight officers from New York City’s public morals squad loaded into four unmarked police cars and headed to the Stonewall Inn at 7th Avenue and Christopher Street. The local precinct had just received a new commanding officer, who kicked off his tenure by initiating a series of raids on gay bars. The Stonewall Inn
was an inviting target ȧ operated by the Gambino crime family without a liquor license, the dance bar drew a crowd of drag queens, hustlers, and minors. It was almost precisely at midnight that the morals squad pulled up to the Stonewall Inn, led by Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine.
At the time, the vice squad routinely raided
gay bars. Patrons always complied with the
police, frightened by the prospect of being
identified in the newspaper. But this particular
Friday night was different. This time, tired of
being harassed by law enforcement, patrons
resisted arrest. The subsequent rioting sparked
a revolution, and a hidden subculture was transformed into a vibrant political movement. What
began with a drag queen clobbering her arresting officer soon escalated into a full-fledged riot, and
modern gay activism was born.
Michael Levine recalls his experience at the Stonewall on June 28, 1969, in a StoryCorps story, “The
lights went up, the music went off, and you could hear a pin drop.”
The police started to say, ”OK everyone, leave,” and the drag queens, they’re the ones who said
to the police, ”We’re not leaving.” And they formed a chorus line outside of the bar. And they
stood there dancing in the street. They were all Puerto Rican drag queens and Irish cops.
It was a funny, funny confrontation. The police would disperse the group and then they would
reform half a block away and dance back toward the Stonewall.1
This sparked the movement for LGBTQ rights that has led to 50 years of action."
