
Fifty-six years ago tonightājust after midnight on June 28, 1969āthe first glass shattered, the first punch landed, and the first brick was thrown at the Stonewall Inn in New York City.
What followed was six days of resistance, unrest, and rebellion, now remembered as the Stonewall Riotsāor, if youāre feeling extra polite, the Stonewall Uprising.
But donāt let the sanitized versions fool you. This wasnāt a parade. This was a riot. A spontaneous, furious backlash against decades of targeted harassment, violence, and criminalization.
Drag queens. Drag kings. Trans women. Trans men. Queer youth. Street kids. Sex workers. Gay and bi men and women. All of them sick and tired of being sick and tired.
This wasnāt the first act of resistance. But it was the spark that caught fire.
BEFORE STONEWALLā¦BLACK CAT TAVERN
New Yearās Eve, 1967. Los Angeles. As the clock struck midnight, a few men kissed to celebrate the new year at a Silver Lake gay bar called the Black Cat Tavern. Within seconds, plainclothes LAPD officers began violently raiding the bar, beating patrons and bartenders alike.
The protest that followed, on February 11, 1967, brought hundreds of LGBTQ people and allies to the streets.
Organized by PRIDE (Personal Rights in Defense and Education), it was one of the first organized public demonstrations for gay rights in US history. But mainstream media didnāt cover the protest. Or the violent response by the LAPD.
The country wasnāt listening. Yet.
BEFORE STONEWALLā¦COMPTONāS CAFETERIA
August 1966. San Francisco. At Gene Comptonās Cafeteria in the Tenderloin districtāa late-night haunt for queer folks pushed to the marginsātrans women and drag queens had finally had enough of police harassment.
When officers attempted to arrest one of the regulars, she reportedly threw her coffee in an officerās face. Chairs flew. Sugar shakers followed. Windows shattered.
The Comptonās Cafeteria Riot was an early revolt led by trans womenāmany of them Black and brownāand drag queens, sex workers, and queer homeless youth. It didnāt make national news, but it made history.
They were standing up, standing out, and refusing to be erased.
THENā¦STONEWALL
By 1969, police raids on gay bars were still routine. Stonewall was just one of many Mafia-owned gay clubs offering the LGBTQ community sanctuary from the pigs. A chance to just be yourself, be with your tribe, and have a good time.
But on that early summer morning, something changed.
Maybe it was grief. Gay heroine and icon Judy Garlandās funeral was earlier in the day. Maybe it was rage. LGBTQ folk were regularly and routinely arrested in raids. Maybe it was sheer exhaustion from pretending not to exist or matter. Enough is a fucking nuff.



Marsha P. Johnson. StormƩ DeLarverie. Sylvia Rivera.
Names we remember. Names we must never forget.
That riotāsix nights longāturned into a movement. Within a year, LGBTQ rights organizations had doubled across the country. And one year later, the first Pride marches took place in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
WEāRE STILL FIGHTING
Nearly 60 years later, weāre still being told to sit down, shut up, and āstop shoving it in peopleās faces.ā Weāre still fighting laws aimed at erasing our identities from schools, sports, stages, and stories. Weāre still being policedāon dance floors, in restrooms, at the ballot box, and in our own damn relationships.
But weāre still here. Still queer. And still fighting for our right to party, dear.
So tonight, take a moment. Feel the hush. Listen for the echoes.
Remember the quiet before the riot. The calm before the storm.
Keep calm and be proud!
Clint šāļø
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FOR YOUR (SUBSTACK) CONSIDERATION
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ON THIS DAY = JUNE 27
BIRTHDAYS
1869 = Emma Goldman = Russian activist and writer š
1872 = Paul Laurence Dunbar = American author, poet, and playwright
1880 = Helen Keller = American author, academic, and activist
1907 = John McIntire = American actor
1913 = Elton Britt = American singer-songwriter
1913 = Philip Guston = American painter and academic
1927 = Bob Keeshan = American actor and producer
1949 = Vera Wang = American fashion designer
1951 = Julia Duffy = American actor
1959 = Janusz KamiÅski = Polish cinematographer and director
1966 = J. J. Abrams = American filmmaker
1970 = Jo Frost = English nanny, tv personality, and author
1974 = Christian Kane = American singer-songwriter and actor
1975 = Bianca Del Rio = American drag queen and comedian š
1975 = Tobey Maguire = American actor
1986 = Drake Bell = American singer-songwriter and actor
1997 = H.E.R. = American singer-songwriter
EVENTS
1895 = The inaugural run of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's Royal Blue from DC to NYC, the first U.S. passenger train to use electric locomotives.
1949 = Captain Video & His Video Rangers premieres on DuMont, becoming tvās first sci-fi series.
1973 = Live And Let Die is released in theaters.
1986 = Labyrinth is released in theaters.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY
āAnytime you give a man in a wig a microphone, anything can happen.ā
Bianca Del Rio
āIf you have a beard, I would suggest putting glitter on it, because it will make you look fancy.ā
Bianca Del Rio
Bless those that fought for the riots we all enjoy today ! I am very concerned we could loose the progress made ! Fight for DEMOCRACY !
A very timely and powerful reminder that we should be vigilant and continue to honor those who came before us to defend our right to be, to love and to live in dignity and freedom. Thank you for sharing this, Clint.