Stonewall: Symbol of Hope or Falsified Revolution?
Conor Stephenson
Senior Division
Historical Paper
I. Introduction
In the years preceding 1970, American homosexuals began to seek acceptance from
others. This came to a turning point when they fought back against oppression in the 1969
Stonewall Riots. Many people believe the Stonewall Riots was the most important event within
the gay rights movement during this time period. However, there were multiple turning points
predating the Stonewall riots which were more important, such as the homophile movement of
the early 60s, the successes of the Mattachine Society, the condemnation of ‘entrapment’ by New
York City mayor John Lindsay, and the overruling of the SLA’s anti-gay law. This essay will
examine the effects of these earlier events on the gay rights movement and compare them to the
effects of the Stonewall Riots on the gay rights movement.
II. American Homosexual Life Up to the Sixties
In the early 20th century, the idea of homosexuality was more recognized, and people
began to be labeled as homosexuals. One reason for the creation of the label of homosexuality
had to do with American industrialization. Historian John D’Emilio theorized that “…the process
of industrialisation and urbanisation, and the movement of workers from plantations and family
farms to wage labour in the cities, made it easier for Americans with same-sex desires to explore
their sexuality.” (Lionel). Industrialization brought people with homosexual desires closer
together, resulting in the labeling of certain people as homosexuals. This labeled was augmented
by Sigmund Freud, a psychoanalyst who developed theories about homosexuality.
In the mid-20th century, many people despised homosexuals. “They were out of their …
minds – that was the reality of the sixties,” said pop artist Ronnie Cutrone, who still remembers
the attitudes of people towards homosexuals back then. “Nobody had long hair – you were a …
freak, you were a fruit, you were not like the rest of the world” (McNeil & McCain 14). This
quote reflects the negativity people felt towards homosexuals. Popular media only worsened this
hatred, often broadcasting anti-gay public service announcements, such 1961’s Boys Beware or
CBS’s 1967 documentary The Homosexuals.
All of this hostility was the main reason that homosexual culture was an underground
phenomenon. Homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois back then (forcing gays
to have sex in public places), and homosexuals even feared dancing in public. According to
Amelia Jackson in an 1965 interview with the Daily Californian, most homosexuals were forced
to “…go to special dance halls in San Francisco reserved for them,” (Amelia). When people were
discovered to be gay, they would either be sent to jail or to a mental hospital, in which they’d be
given therapy ranging from psychotherapy to shock therapy, in which the doctors showed erotic
pictures of men to homosexuals and then shocked them with electricity in order to kill all sexual
urges towards men. Sometimes doctors and therapists even went as far as to castrate or
lobotomize their patients to ‘cure’ them of homosexuality. (Wheeler) This hatred towards
homosexuals gave them a reason to take a stand and try to change the way people viewed them.
III. The Homophile Movement
The homophile movement began in response to the negativity that homosexuals
experienced from all parts of society. This early gay rights group was founded on the ideals that
all homosexuals should have rights equal to those of all the other people in America. However,
they weren’t as radical as future groups, as they tried to achieve equal rights through assimilating
with straight culture. They used the term ‘homophile’ to promote the idea that homosexuals
weren’t sex-obsessed, as this was a popular belief among uneducated people, along with the idea
that homosexuals could never have any lasting romantic relationships. Frank Kameny, a leader in
the homophile movement, once said “This is the homophile movement – we are not fighting for
sexual freedom” (Stein). They tried to show how they were just normal people who wanted to
have equal rights by protesting wearing suits and dresses (with men and women wearing the
clothes that fit the gender binary back then).
But although they dressed in a style that said they were average people, that didn’t mean
that they held back from protesting. In September of 1964, two homophile groups called the
Homosexual League of New York and the League for Sexual Freedom organized a
demonstration at the White House to protest military policies which negatively affected
homosexuals. Then, on April 25th, 1965, a group of two males and one female refused to leave a
restaurant named ‘Dewey’s’ after many other homosexuals had been denied service based on
