Stonewall Remembered from a “T” Perspective
Several years ago while visiting Greenwich Village in New York City; I made it a point to go to the intersection of Christopher and Hudson streets to see the sign that names the intersection “Rivera Way.” It was really only then that I realized the legacy left for us transgender people by those that fought at Compton’s and at Stonewall. I probably do not want to know how many people will read this and have no idea what Stonewall is, and the significantly fewer who will not know what Compton’s Cafeteria means to all of us.
Many that can identify the New York riots of June 1969 as the beginning of the gay rights movement believe that there were not many efforts prior to that. In most cities cross-dressing was illegal and the police often used cross-dressed individuals as an excuse to raid someplace. In the San Francisco tenderloin district in 1966, a group of cross-dressers and “street queens” began a riot during a police raid that was to be seen by many as the wake-up call for what was then called the homophiles. In the wake of the Compton’s riot, a number of psychological and other services were established, culminating in the creation of the National Transsexual Counseling Unit in 1968, the first known peer-run support and advocacy organization in the world.
In June of 1969, the police raided the Stonewall Inn in New York City. The people experiencing these violent raids had finally had enough. The queens, and what would later be called the transgender people, and gay men and women, decided to fight back. Many believe, as noted by historian Susan Stryker that the queens started throwing their shoes and finally Sylvia Rivera threw a bottle and at that moment the modern gay rights era was underway. The riots that ensued were covered by news media world-wide. The world would never be the same as gay rights organizations formed and more and more people came out of the closet.
The legends of Harvey Milk and many other rights activists are now legendary. What many do not know is the “trannies” (to some a pejorative term used to describe the gender-variant) were quickly pushed out of many of the organizations. For example, in 1972, transgender woman Beth Elliot was ousted from the lesbian organization Daughters of Bilitis (the first lesbian rights organization in the US). We sincerely hope that in this month of Pride everyone will look back at our colorful and unified history and remember that the ‘T’ is also in the LGBT. To support any form of incremental activism or any legislation or policy that is not fully inclusive is to once again push us out. We do understand the way the world works and we know that if we are omitted it will be many years before our case is heard by the same group. If San Antonio adds sexual orientation to their non-discrimination policies without gender identity and expression we can be assured that gender identity will not be re-considered in this decade. If history is any indicator, Austin took 25 years.
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