before stonewall documentary transcript

And it's that hairpin trigger thing that makes the riot happen. He pulls all his men inside. Leaflets in the 60s were like the internet, today. Raymond Castro:We were in the back of the room, and the lights went on, so everybody stopped what they were doing, because now the police started coming in, raiding the bar. And so we had to create these spaces, mostly in the trucks. It was done in our little street talk. It said the most dreadful things, it said nothing about being a person. There's a little door that slides open with this power-hungry nut behind that, you see this much of your eyes, and he sees that much of your face, and then he decides whether you're going to get in. Interviewer (Archival):What type of laws are you after? Dick Leitsch:It was an invasion, I mean you felt outraged and stuff like you know what, God, this is America, what's this country come to? Oddball Film + Video, San Francisco Joe DeCola Katrina Heilbroner With this outpouring of courage and unity the gay liberation movement had begun. The events of that night have been described as the birth of the gay-rights movement. They are taught that no man is born homosexual and many psychiatrists now believe that homosexuality begins to form in the first three years of life. Before Stonewall | Apple TV It was a leaflet that attacked the relationship of the police and the Mafia and the bars that we needed to see ended. In the Life You know, Howard's concern was and my concern was that if all hell broke loose, they'd just start busting heads. It was first released in 1984 with its American premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and its European premiere at the Berlinale, followed by a successful theatrical release in many countries and a national broadcast on PBS. Mike Wallace (Archival):Two out of three Americans look upon homosexuals with disgust, discomfort or fear. And it's interesting to note how many youngsters we've been seeing in these films. Barbara Gittings and Kay Tobin Lahusen Gay History Papers and Photographs, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations BEFORE STONEWALL - Alliance of Women Film Journalists A few of us would get dressed up in skirts and blouses and the guys would all have to wear suits and ties. The Stonewall riots inspired gay Americans to fight for their rights. Raymond Castro:Society expected you to, you know, grow up, get married, have kids, which is what a lot of people did to satisfy their parents. And that, that was a very haunting issue for me. Revealing and often humorous, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotionally-charged sparking of today's gay rights movement . This is every year in New York City. They put some people on the street right in front ofThe Village Voiceprotesting the use of the word fag in my story. I didn't think I could have been any prettier than that night. Jerry Hoose:The open gay people that hung out on the streets were basically the have-nothing-to-lose types, which I was. And they were gay. Many of those activists have since died, but Marcus preserved their voices for his book, titled Making Gay History. And as I'm looking around to see what's going on, police cars, different things happening, it's getting bigger by the minute. That's more an uprising than a riot. I wanted to kill those cops for the anger I had in me. Martha Shelley:If you were in a small town somewhere, everybody knew you and everybody knew what you did and you couldn't have a relationship with a member of your own sex, period. So anything that would set us off, we would go into action. Narrator (Archival):This is one of the county's principal weekend gathering places for homosexuals, both male and female. On June 27, 1969, police raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York. John O'Brien:Cops got hurt. Cause we could feel a sense of love for each other that we couldn't show out on the street, because you couldn't show any affection out on the street. Seymour Wishman All I knew about was that I heard that there were people down in Times Square who were gay and that's where I went to. One was the 1845 statute that made it a crime in the state to masquerade. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Yes, entrapment did exist, particularly in the subway system, in the bathrooms. As you read, keep in mind that LGBTQ+ is a relatively new term and, while queer people have always existed, the terminology has changed frequently over the years. I learned, very early, that those horrible words were about me, that I was one of those people. It's not my cup of tea. and someone would say, "Well, they're still fighting the police, let's go," and they went in. Danny Garvin:Bam, bam and bash and then an opening and then whoa. A year earlier, young gays, lesbians and transgender people clashed with police near a bar called The Stonewall Inn. Before Stonewall. Jerry Hoose:I was afraid it was over. I would get in the back of the car and they would say, "We're going to go see faggots." And, you know,The Village Voiceat that point started using the word "gay.". This, to a homosexual, is no choice at all. Things were just changing. The men's room was under police surveillance. And I ran into Howard Smith on the street,The Village Voicewas right there. You had no place to try to find an identity. Martha Babcock Transcript Aired June 9, 2020 Stonewall Uprising The Year That Changed America Film Description When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of. That was our world, that block. Oh, tell me about your anxiety. I have pondered this as "Before Stonewall," my first feature documentary, is back in cinemas after 35 years. Dick Leitsch:We wore suits and ties because we wanted people, in the public, who were wearing suits and ties, to identify with us. Other images in this film are either recreations or drawn from events of the time. Except for the few mob-owned bars that allowed some socializing, it was basically for verboten. Hugh Bush Doing things like that. It was nonsense, it was nonsense, it was all the people there, that were reacting and opposing what was occurring. And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble. Alexis Charizopolis We knew that this was a moment that we didn't want to let slip past, because it was something that we could use to bring more of the groups together. What finally made sense to me was the first time I kissed a woman and I thought, "Oh, this is what it's about." Martin Boyce:And I remember moving into the open space and grabbing onto two of my friends and we started singing and doing a kick line. And the cops got that. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community Abstract. The ones that came close you could see their faces in rage. And the Stonewall was part of that system. Martin Boyce:The day after the first riot, when it was all over, and I remember sitting, sun was soon to come, and I was sitting on the stoop, and I was exhausted and I looked at that street, it was dark enough to allow the street lamps to pick up the glitter of all the broken glass, and all the debris, and all the different colored cloth, that was in different places. Barak Goodman Naturally, you get careless, you fall for it, and the next thing you know, you have silver bracelets on both arms. Why 'Before Stonewall' Was Such a Hard Movie to Make - The Atlantic Before Stonewall - Wikipedia And, I did not like parading around while all of these vacationers were standing there eating ice cream and looking at us like we were critters in a zoo. I entered the convent at 26, to pursue that question and I was convinced that I would either stay until I got an answer, or if I didn't get an answer just stay. David Carter, Author ofStonewall:There was also vigilantism, people were using walkie-talkies to coordinate attacks on gay men. Raymond Castro:If that light goes on, you know to stop whatever you're doing, and separate. Tires were slashed on police cars and it just went on all night long. But I'm wearing this police thing I'm thinking well if they break through I better take it off really quickly but they're gunna come this way and we're going to be backing up and -- who knows what'll happen. The newly restored 1984 documentary "Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community," re-released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the seminal Stonewall riots, remains a . This 1955 educational film warns of homosexuality, calling it "a sickness of the mind.". ITN Source Martha Shelley:Before Stonewall, the homophile movement was essentially the Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis and all of these other little gay organizations, some of which were just two people and a mimeograph machine. You were alone. And the first gay power demonstration to my knowledge was against my story inThe Village Voiceon Wednesday. Before Stonewall (1984) Movie Script | Subs like Script Atascadero was known in gay circles as the Dachau for queers, and appropriately so. The events. Mike Wallace (Archival):Dr. Charles Socarides is a New York psychoanalyst at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine. Martha Shelley:In those days, what they would do, these psychiatrists, is they would try to talk you into being heterosexual. So I got into the subway, and on the car was somebody I recognized and he said, "I've never been so scared in my life," and I said, "Well, please let there be more than ten of us, just please let there be more than ten of us. I would wait until there was nobody left to be the girl and then I would be the girl. Alexis Charizopolis Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:A rather tough lesbian was busted in the bar and when she came out of the bar she was fighting the cops and trying to get away. Because to be gay represented to me either very, super effeminate men or older men who hung out in the upper movie theatres on 42nd Street or in the subway T-rooms, who'd be masturbating. Martha Shelley Martin Boyce:We were like a Hydra. Noah Goldman Few photographs of the raid and the riots that followed exist. Before Stonewall. Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:It was always hands up, what do you want? For the first time the next person stood up. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:And then the next night. Before Stonewall - Rotten Tomatoes Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:We had maybe six people and by this time there were several thousand outside. Tweet at us @throughlineNPR, send us an email, or leave us a voicemail at (872) 588-8805. Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter,The Village Voice:TheNew York TimesI guess printed a story, but it wasn't a major story. Janice Flood Jerry Hoose:And we were going fast. Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community is a 1984 American documentary film about the LGBT community prior to the 1969 Stonewall riots. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Teddy Awards, the film was shown at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival in February 2016. Yvonne Ritter:"In drag," quote unquote, the downside was that you could get arrested, you could definitely get arrested if someone clocked you or someone spooked that you were not really what you appeared to be on the outside. In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city's LGBT community. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:Gay rights, like the rights of blacks, were constantly under attack and while blacks were protected by constitutional amendments coming out of the Civil War, gays were not protected by law and certainly not the Constitution. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:Ed Koch who was a democratic party leader in the Greenwich Village area, was a specific leader of the local forces seeking to clean up the streets. Frank Kameny, co-founder of the Mattachine Society, and Shirley Willer, president of the Daughters of Bilitis, spoke to Marcus about being gay before the Stonewall riots happened and what motivated people who were involved in the movement. I just thought you had to get through this, and I thought I could get through it, but you really had to be smart about it. These homosexuals glorify unnatural sex acts. Jimmy hadn't enjoyed himself so much in a long time. The history of the Gay and Lesbian community before the Stonewall riots began the major gay rights movement. "Don't fire. Martin Boyce:Well, in the front part of the bar would be like "A" gays, like regular gays, that didn't go in any kind of drag, didn't use the word "she," that type, but they were gay, a hundred percent gay. Before Stonewall : Throughline : NPR Remember everything. First Run Features It eats you up inside not being comfortable with yourself. Read a July 6, 1969excerpt fromTheNew York Daily News. The New York Times / Redux Pictures I mean they were making some headway. Franco Sacchi, Additional Animation and Effects Dr. Socarides (Archival):I think the whole idea of saying "the happy homosexual" is to, uh, to create a mythology about the nature of homosexuality. There was the Hippie movement, there was the Summer of Love, Martin Luther King, and all of these affected me terribly. A sickness that was not visible like smallpox, but no less dangerous and contagious. Alexandra Meryash Nikolchev, On-Line Editors More than a half-century after its release, " The Queen " serves as a powerful time capsule of queer life as it existed before the 1969 Stonewall uprising. Mary Queen of the Scotch, Congo Woman, Captain Faggot, Miss Twiggy. Amber Hall Mafia house beer? Here are my ID cards, you knew they were phonies. ", Howard Smith, Reporter,The Village Voice:And he went to each man and said it by name. America thought we were these homosexual monsters and we were so innocent, and oddly enough, we were so American. People that were involved in it like me referred to it as "The First Run." Eric Marcus has spent years interviewing people who were there that night, as well as those who were pushing for gay rights before Stonewall. ", Martin Boyce:People in the neighborhood, the most unlikely people were starting to support it. NBC News Archives You knew you could ruin them for life. Dick Leitsch:Mattachino in Italy were court jesters; the only people in the whole kingdom who could speak truth to the king because they did it with a smile. Cause I was from the streets. Transcript A gay rights march in New York in favor of the 1968 Civil Rights Act being amended to include gay rights. Yvonne Ritter:I did try to get out of the bar and I thought that there might be a way out through one of the bathrooms. People started throwing pennies. Brief Summary Of The Documentary 'Before Stonewall' | Bartleby Narrated by Rita Mae Brownan acclaimed writer whose 1973 novel Rubyfruit Jungle is a seminal lesbian text, but who is possessed of a painfully grating voiceBefore Stonewall includes vintage news footage that makes it clear that gay men and women lived full, if often difficult, lives long before their personal ambitions (however modest) All kinds of designers, boxers, big museum people. In an effort to avoid being anachronistic . Homosexuals do not want that, you might find some fringe character someplace who says that that's what he wants. And I hadn't had enough sleep, so I was in a somewhat feverish state, and I thought, "We have to do something, we have to do something," and I thought, "We have to have a protest march of our own." Gay people were told we didn't have any of that. Directors Greta Schiller Robert Rosenberg (co-director) Stars Rita Mae Brown Maua Adele Ajanaku Fred Sargeant:Someone at this point had apparently gone down to the cigar stand on the corner and got lighter fluid. John O'Brien:They had increased their raids in the trucks. If you would like to read more on the topic, here's a list: Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and NPR One. Danny Garvin:It was the perfect time to be in the Village. WPA Film Library, Thanks to The award winning film Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free the dramatic story of the sometimes horrifying public and private existences experienced by gay and lesbian Americans since the 1920s. They were not used to a bunch of drag queens doing a Rockettes kick line and sort of like giving them all the finger in a way. Revealing and. There were gay bars in Midtown, there were gay bars uptown, there were certain kinds of gay bars on the Upper East Side, you know really, really, really buttoned-up straight gay bars. And it would take maybe a half hour to clear the place out. From left: "Before Stonewall" director Greta Schiller, executive producer John Scagliotti and co-director Robert Rosenberg in 1985. The Underground Lounge Stonewall Tscript | PDF | Homosexuality | Lgbt It was as if they were identifying a thing. They were supposed to be weak men, limp-wristed. We were thinking about survival. by David Carter, Associate Producer and Advisor Leroy S. Mobley Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:Well, I had to act like I wasn't nervous. They would bang on the trucks. So I run down there. William Eskridge, Professor of Law:At the peak, as many as 500 people per year were arrested for the crime against nature, and between 3- and 5,000 people per year arrested for various solicitation or loitering crimes. If anybody should find out I was gay and would tell my mother, who was in a wheelchair, it would have broken my heart and she would have thought she did something wrong. We could lose our memory from the beating, we could be in wheelchairs like some were. Jerry Hoose:Who was gonna complain about a crackdown against gay people? Do you want them to lose all chance of a normal, happy, married life? Jerry Hoose:The bar itself was a toilet. Slate:In 1969, homosexual acts were illegal in every state except Illinois. We had no speakers planned for the rally in Central Park, where we had hoped to get to. The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle, Queer (In)Justice: The Criminalization of LGBT People in the United States. Martin Boyce:You could be beaten, you could have your head smashed in a men's room because you were looking the wrong way. Watch Before Stonewall | Prime Video - amazon.com WGBH Educational Foundation Stonewall Forever is a documentary from NYC's LGBT Community Center directed by Ro Haber. People standing on cars, standing on garbage cans, screaming, yelling. The severity of the punishment varies from state to state. Detective John Sorenson, Dade County Morals & Juvenile Squad (Archival):There may be some in this auditorium. That night, we printed a box, we had 5,000. Corbis Suzanne Poli I grew up in a very Catholic household and the conflict of issues of redemption, of is it possible that if you are this thing called homosexual, is it possible to be redeemed? It was narrated by author Rita Mae Brown, directed by Greta Schiller, co-directed by Robert Rosenberg, and co-produced by John Scagliotti and Rosenberg, and Schiller. Ed Koch, Councilman, New York City:There were complaints from people who objected to the wrongful behavior of some gays who would have sex on the street. Before Stonewall - Letterboxd And these were meat trucks that in daytime were used by the meat industry for moving dead produce, and they really reeked, but at nighttime, that's where people went to have sex, you know, and there would be hundreds and hundreds of men having sex together in these trucks.

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