In the heart of Greenwich Village, New York City at 1:20 a.m. on Saturday, June 28, 1969 eight New York City police raided a gay bar, the
Stonewall Inn (later deemed a
National Historic Landmark). "As the police raided the bar, a crowd of four hundred patrons gathered on the street outside and watched the officers arrest the bartender, the doorman, and a few drag queens [see:
police arrest reports]. The crowd, which eventually grew to an estimated 2,000 strong, was fed up."
* Thus began
three days of rioting and the advent of the modern gay rights movement. In honor of the Stonewall Riots, many
gay pride celebrations around the world are held during the month of June, including this week(end)'s
NYC Pride, celebrating 40 years of Stonewall's impact on seeking to bring civil rights to all, including the LGBT community.
Happy Pride!
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posted by ericb
on Jun 27, 2009 -
65 comments
Ten years ago today gay college student
Matthew Shepard died after
having been savagely beaten, left alone for 18-hours and found tied to a fence five days prior on the outskirts of
Laramie, Wyoming. America was stunned by the vicious
hate crime. As his mother,
Judy, pushes for passage of the
Matthew Shepard Act, advocating for federal hate crimes legislation, and directs the
Matthew Shepard Foundation, folks in Laramie ask: "...
how has the town changed since 1998? ...how do we measure that change?" And yet 10 years after Matthew's death the
1969 United States federal hate-crime law has not been expanded to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability
due to a veto threat by President Bush.
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posted by ericb
on Oct 12, 2008 -
170 comments
“In 2002… [Harvard student Amit Paley]…came across a restricted archive labeled 'Secret Court Files, 1920.' The mystery he uncovered involved a tragic scandal in which Harvard University secretly put a dozen students on trial for homosexuality and then systematically and persistently tried to ruin their lives.
[1]“The pages that file contained, first reported [by Paley] in a[n]…edition of the
Harvard Crimson's weekend magazine, describe Harvard's desperate attempts 80 years ago to hide from public view a secret gay subculture on campus.”
[2]“The article prompted an apology from University President Lawrence H. Summers to the men and their families; led to a campus-wide discussion about homophobia; and was even cited in
Lawrence v. Texas, the historic Supreme Court case that struck down anti-sodomy laws.”
[3]Prolific biographer William Wright’s newly-published book, ‘
Harvard's Secret Court: The Savage 1920 Purge of Campus Homosexuals' digs deep into the shameful events of the early 20th century at one of the United States' leading universities.
posted by ericb
on Sep 29, 2005 -
29 comments
Earlier this week, Senator Santorum (R., PA) stood by
comments he made on a Catholic website in 2002 when he said:
'It is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
In a brief interview with the Boston Globe on Tuesday, Santorum reiterated his view that the 'basic liberal attitude" in Boston fostered an environment where sexual abuse of children could occur.
Many slammed him for politicizing a scandal that has touched many across the country - way beyond the borders of Massachusetts.
Separate, but of great importance to one who waves a flag of "traditional family values" and repeated homophobic rhetoric, how does
Senator Santorum "square the fact" that his "mouthpiece" to the world (Director of Communications,
Robert Traynham)
came out as a gay man this afternoon?
posted by ericb
on Jul 14, 2005 -
50 comments
Hustler's magazine's anticipated expose of closeted congressman David Dreier (R – California) hits newsstands today. Raw Story reports that the article “offers a handful of new details not previously reported, including a charge that high-level California Republicans have been aware of (and sanctioned) Dreier’s gay lifestyle for many years.”
The article recounts how Dreier’s gay life was exposed earlier this summer by blogACTIVE.com, RAW STORY, and then picked up by
L.A. Weekly (previously discussed
here,
here, and
here).
Dreier was targeted because he had repeatedly voted against gay rights measures – all the while keeping his alleged partner on his office payroll.
Hustler gave permission to
blogACTIVE and
RAW STORY to excerpt parts of the article. The full article is only available in the print edition of the magazine.
posted by ericb
on Dec 3, 2004 -
40 comments
