The Quiet Before The Riot
The Calm Before The Storm
Fifty-six years ago tonight—just after midnight on June 28, 1969—the 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 Riots—or, if you’re feeling extra polite, the Stonewall Uprising.
But don’t let the sanitized versions fool you. This wasn’t 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 wasn’t the first act of resistance. But it was the spark that caught fire.
BEFORE STONEWALL…BLACK CAT TAVERN
New Year’s 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 didn’t cover the protest. Or the violent response by the LAPD.
The country wasn’t listening. Yet.
BEFORE STONEWALL…COMPTON’S CAFETERIA
August 1966. San Francisco. At Gene Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin district—a late-night haunt for queer folks pushed to the margins—trans 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 officer’s face. Chairs flew. Sugar shakers followed. Windows shattered.
The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot was an early revolt led by trans women—many of them Black and brown—and drag queens, sex workers, and queer homeless youth. It didn’t make national news, but it made history.
They were standing up, standing out, and refusing to be erased.
THEN…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 Garland’s 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. Stormé DeLarverie. Sylvia Rivera.
Names we remember. Names we must never forget.
That riot—six nights long—turned 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.
WE’RE STILL FIGHTING
Nearly 60 years later, we’re still being told to sit down, shut up, and “stop shoving it in people’s faces.” We’re still fighting laws aimed at erasing our identities from schools, sports, stages, and stories. We’re still being policed—on dance floors, in restrooms, at the ballot box, and in our own damn relationships.
But we’re 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 🌈✌️
COLLIDE PRESS is a reader-supported publication.
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber or patron.
Big thanks to all who’ve subscribed and/or supported!
FOR YOUR (SUBSTACK) CONSIDERATION
- )
- )
- )
- )
ON THIS DAY = JUNE 27
BIRTHDAYS
1869 = Emma Goldman = Russian activist and writer 🌈
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 Kamiński = 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 🌈
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 tv’s 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
“Anytime you give a man in a wig a microphone, anything can happen.”
Bianca Del Rio
“If you have a beard, I would suggest putting glitter on it, because it will make you look fancy.”
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.