What Was Stonewall?

By (author) Medina, Nico; By (author) Who HQ; Illustrated by Murray, Jake
Short description/annotation
How did a spontaneous protest outside of a New York City bar fifty years ago spark a social movement across America? Find out about the history of LGBTQ rights in this Who HQ title.
Description
In the early-morning hours of June 28, 1969, police arrived at the Stonewall Inn’s doors and yelled, “Police! We’re taking the place!” But the people in this New York City neighbourhood bar, members of the LGBTQ community, were tired of being harassed. They rebelled in the streets, turning one moment into a civil rights movement and launching the fight for equality among LGBTQ people in the United States.
Biographical note
Nico Medina is the author of several Who HQ books, including Where Is Mount Everest?, What Was the Berlin Wall?, Who Was Aretha Franklin?, and What Was the Ice Age?
Promotional headline
How did a spontaneous protest outside of a New York City bar fifty years ago spark a social movement across America? Find out about the history of LGBTQ rights in this Who HQ title.
Excerpt
What Was Stonewall?
 
 
June 26, 2015—Greenwich Village, New York City
 
 
It was a Friday, and folks at the Stonewall Inn were celebrating. The world-famous gay bar was packed. People hugged and cheered inside the bar and outside on Christopher Street.
 
Everyone had come to celebrate a ruling from the Supreme Court, the highest court in the United States. Now it was legal, in all fifty states, for same-sex couples to marry. “They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy. “The Constitution grants them that right.”
 
Marriage is important not only for emotional reasons but for practical reasons as well. Married people can own property together, and they pay lower taxes. They can also be covered under the same health insurance plan and can visit each other in the hospital. These are just some of the many legal benefits of being married.
 
Up until 2004, men could only marry women in the United States, and vice versa. But beginning that year, states started to recognize every American’s right to marry whomever they chose. 
 
By June 2015, same-sex marriage was legal in thirty-seven states, plus the District of Columbia. The Supreme Court’s decision now gave the right to marry to all Americans.
 
Many LGBTQ+ people had been waiting for this moment for a long time. 
 
To see the Stonewall Inn, one might wonder what makes it so special. From the outside, it is not a particularly pretty establishment. Inside, the ceilings are low and the bar is dark. Why did so many New Yorkers celebrate there?
 
Because almost fifty years earlier, something happened at Stonewall. Something that would change the course of history for LGBTQ+ Americans.
 
On June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn and began arresting people. This had happened many times before, at Stonewall and at other gay-friendly bars in the city. But on that hot summer night, to the cops’ surprise, the people at Stonewall fought back.
 
And they fought back hard.
 
The struggle for equal rights for LGBTQ+ people did not begin at Stonewall. But the events there pushed the movement forward. Half a century later, Stonewall continues to inspire people to demand equality.
 
 
Chapter 1: The Village
 
  
Stonewall is located in New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood (say: GREN-itch). Commonly called “the Village,” its winding streets and small parks set it apart from the rectangular street grid in the rest of the city.
 
The Village has been a popular place for gay people to gather since the 1800s. Pfaff’s was an undergro