From Riots To Recognition: Celebrate Stonewall Day With Geena Rocero

Our August 2019 Playmate joins the team behind Stone wall Day to honor LGBTQ progress, advocate on behalf of marginalized individuals and salute the trans activists who made history in 1969

- Tori Lynn Adams

At 1:20 A.M. on June 28, 1969, eight police officers stormed into the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village gay bar that welcomed drag queens, trans folks, sex workers and other outsiders. It was a routine raid; cross-dressing was then criminalized. The officers started lining up patrons outside to be transported to the precinct.

As the police began inappropriately frisking and aggressively shoving the detainees, a crowd gathered, throwing pennies and beer bottles at the police cars. Others formed a chorus line and began high-kicking and singing in protest. The chaos soon devolved into a brawl between the quickly amassing LGBTQ crowd and the authorities. Outnumbered, the police barricaded a small group of employees and patrons in the bar and waited for backup, which eventually arrived.

But it was a major turning point. Queer New Yorkers protested again the next night and on several subsequent occasions. Overnight many in the city’s LGBTQ community went from a relatively private and unseen existence in which they quietly visited underground bars where they could be themselves to storming the streets and very publicly demanding their legal rights and protections. Eventually known as the Stonewall riots, these protests catalyzed the LGBTQ movement.

Exactly one year after the original Stonewall protest, the first pride parade was organized to commemorate the landmark event, celebrate the LGBTQ community and highlight the need for laws to protect queer rights. Every year since, LGBTQ communities have organized events in June to honor those who stood up for their rights at Stonewall and to raise awareness of the ongoing struggle for equality.