From Stonewall to George Floyd (and back again)

June 28, 1969 – July 3, 1969. Those were the dates of the Stonewall Uprising. The days – and I emphasize the plural – that changed US LGBTQ history forever. What we too often forget, with our current-day corporate-packaged Pride parades and complementary brand marketing, is the messiness of the rebellion. Like with the decades-long civil rights movement, a half century on we’ve sanitized the struggle. As the feel-good fairytale goes, “In the blink of one night a community of righteous gays stood together in kumbaya harmony to neutralize law enforcement with a single kick line.” And though the Uprising did indeed feature a kick line, it also featured violence. Lots of it. Several nights, in fact, of broken glass, raging fires, street fights and looting. The West Village as war zone.

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