Stonewall riots — 1969 LGBT rights demonstrations in New York City, United States
The Stonewall riots catalyzed the modern LGBT rights movement, directly inspiring the formation of activist organizations and the annual Pride commemorations held worldwide.
Key Facts
- Date of initial raid
- June 28, 1969
- Location
- Stonewall Inn, Greenwich Village, Manhattan
- Inn ownership
- Mafia-owned establishment
- Monument established
- Stonewall National Monument designated in 2016
- First anniversary marches
- Peaceful demonstrations in several U.S. cities in 1970
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
In the 1950s and 1960s, American gay and lesbian people faced a hostile legal system and routine police raids on gay bars. The liberal social climate of Greenwich Village, combined with broader civil rights and counterculture movements of the late 1960s, created conditions in which marginalized patrons of the Stonewall Inn were primed to resist rather than comply with yet another police action.
In the early morning of June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn without the usual advance notice to its Mafia owners. Officers lost control of the situation as patrons and bystanders fought back. Protests erupted again the following night and on subsequent evenings, drawing larger crowds and marking a visible, sustained public resistance to anti-gay policing.
Within weeks of the riots, Greenwich Village residents organized new activist groups and launched publications advocating openly for gay and transgender rights. The first anniversary in 1970 was marked by peaceful marches in several American cities, which evolved into the Pride parades now held annually worldwide every June. The Stonewall Inn site was designated a National Monument in 2016.