1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of iHeartRadio and 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: Grimm and Mild from Air and Manky Lee. 3 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:22,120 Speaker 2: Jamestown, Virginia Courthouse was buzzing with gossip. On April eighth 4 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 2: of sixteen, twenty nine. Thomasin Hall went on trial. That day. 5 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 2: The very nature of their identity was up for debate. 6 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 2: Thomasin had been stirring up whispers with the way they 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 2: dressed and how they socialized. Sometimes they wore dresses, other 8 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 2: times they wore pants. It was also rumored that Thomasine 9 00:00:42,080 --> 00:00:45,519 Speaker 2: was courting and sleeping with both women and men in 10 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,599 Speaker 2: the community. Thomasin lived at a time when gender existed 11 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:52,760 Speaker 2: in a rigid binary, with the two in opposition to 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 2: each other. Men had their clothes and their social scripts, 13 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:00,040 Speaker 2: and women did too, But the record tells us that 14 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 2: Thomasine existed somewhat fluidly changing their dress, performance, and pronouns 15 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,040 Speaker 2: to suit the moment. At the trial, Thomisine claimed to 16 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 2: have both male and female genitalia, insisting that they were 17 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 2: both a man and a woman. Thomisine underwent a number 18 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:20,440 Speaker 2: of exams and different inspectors drew different conclusions, but what 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 2: we now believe is that Thomasin was likely an intersex person. 20 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 2: Determining a single gender for Hall felt essential to the community, 21 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 2: but the court couldn't figure out a satisfying answer, so 22 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 2: it came up with a solution. Instead of forcing Thomasine 23 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 2: to abide by a single set of gender norms, the 24 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 2: court would enforce a simultaneous performance of both. The court 25 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 2: decreed that Thomisine must wear a combination of men and 26 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 2: women's clothing forevermore think trousers, but under an apron Doing 27 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,400 Speaker 2: so was meant to humiliate Thomasine and rob them of 28 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:59,279 Speaker 2: the chance to ever blend in fully with society again. 29 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 2: Queerness was not an idea that existed in the early 30 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 2: days of the colonies, but as the colonies developed, so 31 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,360 Speaker 2: too did the idea of what it meant to be 32 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 2: a man or a woman. In the late sixteen hundreds, 33 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 2: English philosopher John Locke wrote about the concept of a 34 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 2: tabula rasa or blank slate, which suggested that humans were 35 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 2: not born with inherent traits, but instead were shaped by 36 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 2: their environment. This idea began to take hold in colonial America, 37 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 2: and people started to understand that gender wasn't solely determined 38 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 2: by biology, but rather by social and cultural factors. However, 39 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 2: as we saw with Thomisin in that time and place, 40 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 2: those factors resulted in a strict social code, and as 41 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 2: the concept of gender became more rigid, so too did 42 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 2: the expectations of sexual behavior. In the seventeen hundreds, same 43 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 2: sex relationships were not necessarily seen as immoral, but rather 44 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 2: as a deviation. As medicine professionalized into the mid eighteen hundreds, 45 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 2: the term homosexual was coined, and with it, the idea 46 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,640 Speaker 2: of same sex attraction was defined as a pathological condition. 47 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,079 Speaker 2: For the stories we're telling today, we're using the reclaimed 48 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 2: umbrella term queer, even though it may feel a bit 49 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 2: ahistorical to cover all people with so called non normative 50 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 2: sexual and gender identities. People of the past didn't have 51 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 2: access to our current language and concepts, and we should 52 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 2: acknowledge that it's usually impossible to know how an individual 53 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 2: would have used these terms if they were available to them. 54 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 2: We know that many people throughout history experienced same gender 55 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 2: attraction and or felt a disconnect from their gender as 56 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 2: assigned at birth, but there's a vast gulf in language 57 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 2: and culture that lets us only speculate most of the 58 00:03:53,560 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 2: time about who these people were and what they felt. 59 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 2: Queer people have always been here, but in the long 60 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:06,320 Speaker 2: arc of history, queerness has only very recently become a battleground. 61 00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:18,479 Speaker 2: I'm lorn vogelbam, Welcome to American shadows. America has never 62 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 2: truly been the land of the free. Since the time 63 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 2: of colonization, wealthy Anglo Saxon landholding men have been fighting 64 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 2: to keep themselves in power for hundreds of years. The 65 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 2: laws they created carefully upheld their positions, often making existence 66 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 2: precarious for people who weren't like them. Love and those 67 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:42,920 Speaker 2: who were lucky enough to find it was likewise a 68 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 2: tightly governed experience. By the mid sixteen hundreds, the American 69 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 2: colonies decreed that any man committing the unnatural and lascivious 70 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 2: act of sodomy, meaning either bestiality or anal sex between 71 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 2: anyone regardless of gender, could be by death. By eighteen 72 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 2: seventy three, Congress passed a federal antisodomy law that applied 73 00:05:06,600 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 2: to the District of Columbia and US territories, which threatened 74 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 2: any convicted party with up to ten years in prison, 75 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 2: and all the while, a constellation of state laws have 76 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 2: been codified around fraternizing with members of the same gender. 77 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 2: The enforcement of these laws was often characterized by brutality, 78 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:29,080 Speaker 2: but even still, queer folks found ways to find each other, 79 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:33,760 Speaker 2: a first privately and then more publicly. As the tides 80 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 2: of acceptance shifted into the nineteen hundreds, many gathered at 81 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 2: discreete watering holes, members only clubs, and cafes. Pockets of 82 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 2: queerness existed wherever people lived, but the critical masses gathered 83 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 2: in the big cities. There are a number venues that 84 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 2: vie for the title of the oldest gay bar in America, 85 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 2: which cite their inception back to the nineteen thirties. It's 86 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 2: likely that similar establishments existed before then, although they weren't 87 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,159 Speaker 2: as visible or well documented. A long running and legendary 88 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 2: favorite was The Child's Cafeteria off Columbus Circle in New 89 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 2: York City. The city felt hard sometimes, but there in 90 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 2: that one chain restaurant nicknamed Mother Child's, it felt safe, 91 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 2: safe to sit, safe to stay, safe to be over 92 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 2: endless cups of coffee. Patrons could often find the same 93 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 2: familiar faces of friends, lovers, family. It had the appeal 94 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:36,360 Speaker 2: of what sociologists call a third space, which is a 95 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 2: location that's not home but not work, where the other 96 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 2: part of your life is lived. One nineteen thirties visitor's 97 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 2: guide to New York even highlighted it and said it 98 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,719 Speaker 2: features a dash of lavender, a coded language that suggested 99 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,160 Speaker 2: the true character of the place for anyone who was 100 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,640 Speaker 2: tuned in for those who loved a spectacle. A handful 101 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 2: of major cities also hosted spectacular drag balls that drew 102 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 2: thousands of attendees. These were modeled on high society debutante balls, 103 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,479 Speaker 2: often hosting straight folks as spectators. According to one scholar, 104 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 2: a wild dominant American society largely disapproved of these queer communities. 105 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 2: People sure did like a party. As the queer community 106 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 2: gained visibility alongside other social movements, it began to take 107 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:26,080 Speaker 2: up more space, it became louder, and in doing so, 108 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 2: it often made itself a target for the powers that 109 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 2: hoped to keep them quiet. In nineteen sixty four, Life 110 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 2: magazine described the relationship between the police and the queer 111 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 2: community in San Francisco as a running battle. They reported 112 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,960 Speaker 2: that a collective effort was underway by the department to 113 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 2: educate their force on how to readily identify a gay person, 114 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 2: they published and distributed internal materials warning of a gay agenda. 115 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 2: Zine went on to say that while the stance by 116 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 2: the LAPD was unswervingly tough, they believed it reflected the 117 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 2: larger collective attitudes of most American police departments. The article 118 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 2: also quotes LAPD inspector James Fisk as saying, we're barely 119 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 2: touching the surface of the problem. The pervert is no 120 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 2: longer as secretive as he was. He's aggressive, and his 121 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 2: aggressiveness is getting worse because of more homosexual activity. A 122 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 2: year after that article was published in Life magazine, a 123 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 2: New Year's Day costume ball was held at California Hall 124 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:38,319 Speaker 2: in San Francisco. Around six hundred people had purchased tickets 125 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 2: to raise money for the newly formed Council on Religion 126 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 2: and the Homosexual an organization meant to advocate against discrimination 127 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 2: with the help of religious leaders. The party planners and 128 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:52,720 Speaker 2: at ten dees alike knew it was bound to be controversial. 129 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 2: Police had been known to use any kind of touching 130 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:58,720 Speaker 2: by members of the same sex as a reason to 131 00:08:58,840 --> 00:09:02,040 Speaker 2: arrest and prosecute them, but those who attended the ball 132 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 2: that day did so enthusiastically, knowing they were taking a stand, 133 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 2: and although the queer activists warned them not to, the 134 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 2: ministers were upfront and told San Francisco police about their 135 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 2: upcoming event, potentially hoping for some kind of honest truce. Naturally, 136 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:23,079 Speaker 2: the police tried to make them cancel it, the organizers refused. 137 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 2: The night of the ball, police officers circled the hall 138 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 2: in their cruisers. They took photographs of everyone going in 139 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 2: and out, and were rumored to have brought large movie cameras. 140 00:09:33,760 --> 00:09:36,120 Speaker 2: When the cops demanded to be allowed into the hall, 141 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,439 Speaker 2: lawyers who were present on behalf of the council, asked 142 00:09:39,480 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 2: to see a search warrant. Three of the lawyers, as 143 00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 2: well as the woman selling tickets, were arrested on charges 144 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 2: of obstructing an officer. The police were accustomed to exerting 145 00:09:49,240 --> 00:09:52,559 Speaker 2: this type of power over the queer community and expected 146 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 2: the typical lack of consequences that came with it. But 147 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,600 Speaker 2: the next day the council's ministers held a press conference. 148 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:03,079 Speaker 2: There they excl created the police, accusing them of deliberate harassment, 149 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:07,240 Speaker 2: bad faith, and obvious hostility. The Americans for Civil Liberties 150 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,720 Speaker 2: Union or ACLU got involved, and the case came to 151 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:15,040 Speaker 2: trial in February of nineteen sixty five, and before the 152 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 2: defense could even present its case, the judge declared a 153 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 2: not guilty verdict. He declared to the court that this 154 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:24,959 Speaker 2: was a waste of everyone's time. The queer community in 155 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 2: San Francisco perceived this as a turning point. Many felt 156 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,760 Speaker 2: encouraged and believed that they were starting to be taken 157 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,959 Speaker 2: seriously by the mainstream. The movement was gaining a visible 158 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:40,440 Speaker 2: and collective foothold, moving from the fringes into a larger, 159 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:44,719 Speaker 2: interconnected web of social movements. This would not be the 160 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 2: last skirmish, but the police far from it. The following 161 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 2: New Year's Eve of nineteen sixty six, the Black Cat 162 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,719 Speaker 2: Club was set to host another ball. There were balloons 163 00:10:55,800 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 2: and confetti and revelry, a confidence that the community found 164 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 2: in safety in large numbers. That is, until it was 165 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 2: revealed that the police weren't waiting for them outside. They 166 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 2: had already crossed the threshold and infiltrated the party. Roughly 167 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 2: five minutes after the New year began, the cops made 168 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 2: themselves known. They flipped on all of the lights. One 169 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 2: officer unplugged the jukebox, while another began tearing down the 170 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:25,400 Speaker 2: Christmas decorations, still adorning the bar. The later reports said 171 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:29,319 Speaker 2: that their only identification was their duty weapons. Poor substitute, 172 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 2: if there ever was one. Reports say that they blocked 173 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 2: the exits and began to beat the patrons. The raid 174 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 2: lasted ten minutes. Of these sixteen men arrested that night, 175 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,360 Speaker 2: six were convicted of lewd conduct, which meant that the 176 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 2: state of California could require them to register as sex offenders. 177 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 2: Two of those men, Charles Tally and Benny Baker, were 178 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 2: in fact placed on the states first in the nation, 179 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,600 Speaker 2: sex offender registry. They had been caught kissing other men 180 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 2: at the party. They appealed the decision, even petitioning Supreme Court, 181 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 2: which decided not to consider the case. Meanwhile, the police 182 00:12:04,960 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 2: painted themselves as the victims, including a claim that three 183 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:12,840 Speaker 2: officers were injured, with one being hospitalized. In February of 184 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,080 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty seven, a queer newsletter named Pride headlined their 185 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:21,040 Speaker 2: story CoP's Start bar brawl, A word spread quickly around 186 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,600 Speaker 2: the country. By September of that year, the publication had 187 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 2: morphed into The Advocate, which still exists today. The Black 188 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 2: cat raid was cited as an impetus for creating the 189 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:36,240 Speaker 2: first national, mass circulation gay newspaper, The Advocate became a 190 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 2: central tool of the community. It collected and spread news 191 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 2: of the gay rights movement faster and further than ever before, 192 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 2: and it would end up playing a pivotal role in 193 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:59,000 Speaker 2: informing readers and stoking passion in what came next. Tucked 194 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:02,960 Speaker 2: away behind a descript facade, the Stonewall Inn was the 195 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 2: heart of queer New York, but by the end of 196 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,199 Speaker 2: June of nineteen sixty nine, the Stonewall Inn was about 197 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 2: to become the epicenter of a movement. The two room 198 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 2: establishment was dimly lit and cramped with a makeshift bar 199 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,439 Speaker 2: constructed from black painted plywood, a few stools, and a 200 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 2: few water buckets used for rinsing dirty glasses. The liquor 201 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 2: was cheap, diluted, and plentiful. A single bare light bulb 202 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,440 Speaker 2: hung high on the wall, a flashing beacon that warned 203 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 2: folks when a raid was eminent. It wasn't much, but 204 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 2: to those who came, it was everything. The dance floor 205 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 2: was small, but it was where the patrons came alive, 206 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:45,319 Speaker 2: letting loose in a world where they could be themselves 207 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,800 Speaker 2: without fear of persecution. It was illegal in New York 208 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 2: to serve gay people of let alone create a dedicated 209 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,480 Speaker 2: space for them, but the padding of police pockets by 210 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 2: mafia owners helped subvert these policies, and the Stonewall Inn 211 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 2: became a haven for those who had been forced to 212 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,000 Speaker 2: live in the shadows. They came to the Stonewall In 213 00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 2: to escape, to find community, and to express themselves in 214 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 2: a way that was impossible in the outside world. On Tuesday, 215 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:16,719 Speaker 2: June twenty fourth of nineteen sixty nine, police raided the 216 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:20,280 Speaker 2: Stonewall In for operating without a valid liquor license, arresting 217 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 2: several employees and confiscating the boothe Because of a mafia 218 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 2: police agreement, it was arranged that the typical raid would 219 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 2: happen on a weeknight or well before midnight on a weekend, 220 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:35,080 Speaker 2: when fewer customers would be present. This was all standard 221 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:39,680 Speaker 2: operating procedure, but this time something would be different. The 222 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 2: police planned a second raid for the following weekend, which 223 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 2: was part of a concerted campaign to shut down the 224 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 2: village's mafia run gay bars. In the early hours of 225 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 2: the following Saturday morning, they surprised the almost two hundred 226 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 2: patrons inside when they came in and locked the doors 227 00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 2: behind them. They started calling for everyone to show in 228 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 2: order to leave, targeting both employees and those dressed in 229 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 2: drag for arrest. A one patron who was there at 230 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,600 Speaker 2: the time described it almost like a hostage situation. According 231 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:14,000 Speaker 2: to the deputy police inspector in charge of the raid, 232 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 2: a Seymour Pine, he hadn't been planning on arresting patrons 233 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 2: until they started getting verbal pushback from the gender nonconforming 234 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 2: portion of the crowd. A Pine, a World War Two 235 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:27,360 Speaker 2: veteran who had fought in the Battle of the Bulge 236 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 2: and was a contributing author to the Army manual on 237 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 2: Hand to Hand Combat, later said he had never been 238 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 2: more scared than he was that night. The police had 239 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,800 Speaker 2: grown increasingly aggressive in their harassment of the queer community. 240 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:42,880 Speaker 2: As the patrons were rounded up and filed out of 241 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 2: the establishment. Instead of leaving, they stayed something ignited. They 242 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 2: were tired of being pushed around, tired of being beaten 243 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:58,040 Speaker 2: and arrested for simply existing. Maybe it was just that 244 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 2: the crowd inside had been bigger at most raids. Maybe 245 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 2: some patrons were waiting for their friends. Maybe the earlier 246 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,280 Speaker 2: raid on the stone Wall, combined with the recent raids 247 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,880 Speaker 2: and closures of several other bars in the village, was 248 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 2: finally too much. As more and more people gathered outside. 249 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:17,520 Speaker 2: The people being released from the bar hammed it up 250 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 2: for the assembled crowd, taking bows, throwing up their arms, 251 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 2: and shouting one liners at the police. People began throwing 252 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 2: pennies and beer cans, accompanied by shouts about paying off 253 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 2: the cops. Soon the tension had reached a breaking point. 254 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:38,680 Speaker 2: What happened next has been widely disputed and mythologized. Someone 255 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:42,200 Speaker 2: through a brick, but the number of people who claimed 256 00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 2: to have thrown the first brick at Stonewall is staggering, 257 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 2: as is the number who claimed to have been there, 258 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:50,200 Speaker 2: far more than the two hundred or so patrons or 259 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,760 Speaker 2: the others who gathered to watch. Some who were there 260 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 2: estimated that the crowd numbered anywhere from around five hundred 261 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 2: to in thousands. The fell into bedlam. Punches were thrown, 262 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:07,639 Speaker 2: people were dragged, tires were slashed. The police eventually barricaded 263 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:11,120 Speaker 2: themselves inside the bar and called for backup. People began 264 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:16,600 Speaker 2: throwing things through the windows, bricks, makeshift moltov cocktails, trash. 265 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,439 Speaker 2: The crowd turned a parking meter into a battering ramp. 266 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:23,160 Speaker 2: People would later express the feeling that Stonewall was their 267 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 2: home and the attempt to break down the doors represented 268 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:28,959 Speaker 2: their need to take back a space that was theirs. 269 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,959 Speaker 2: Reinforcements in the form of fire trucks and riot cops 270 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:36,439 Speaker 2: eventually arrived, and the cops barricaded in the Stonewall In 271 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:41,439 Speaker 2: were able to exit along with the restees trapped inside. However, 272 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:44,679 Speaker 2: the crowd was still large and had no intention of leaving. 273 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,400 Speaker 2: Fire Hoses were used at an attempt to disperse them. 274 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:52,239 Speaker 2: Cops began hitting protesters with billy clubs and dragging them 275 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:56,680 Speaker 2: into squad cars. As dawn broke, the street was covered 276 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:00,760 Speaker 2: in shattered glass. Cops still stood at attention, and groups 277 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,560 Speaker 2: of rioters lingered in the nearby park and some with 278 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 2: improvised bandages over bleeding cuts. The news spread rapidly through 279 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 2: New York City. The following day, Protests continued outside the 280 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 2: bar on and off for six days. Groups of queer 281 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 2: people showed up outside the Stonewall Inn, facing off with 282 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 2: and taunting the assembled police. Demonstrators blocked off the road, 283 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 2: shouting Christopher Street belongs to the Queen's and liberate the street. 284 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:32,639 Speaker 2: The poet Alan Ginsburg, having heard about the riots, showed 285 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,879 Speaker 2: up on Sunday night to a smaller and calmer crowd. 286 00:18:36,680 --> 00:18:39,320 Speaker 2: He was delighted by the energy in the air and 287 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:42,639 Speaker 2: visited the Stonewall Inn for the first time, still open 288 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 2: but reduced to giving away soda for free, where he 289 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 2: danced with abandon. This wasn't the first police raid or 290 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 2: protest in a queer community, and it certainly wouldn't be 291 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 2: the last, but the Stonewall Riot was a turning point 292 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:03,000 Speaker 2: in the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, asexual, 293 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:07,119 Speaker 2: and otherwise queer rights, and it marked the birth of 294 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:18,440 Speaker 2: the modern day queer liberation movement. Today, one of our 295 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:22,440 Speaker 2: primary metaphors around queerness draws from the visual of a closet, 296 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 2: and if you're a queer person, you might be in 297 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:28,880 Speaker 2: it or coming out of it, or perhaps you're actively 298 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,959 Speaker 2: outside of it. But this is a newer turn of phrase, 299 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:36,440 Speaker 2: having only shown up in the nineteen sixties. Then and earlier, 300 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 2: coming out had a larger implication, like a debutante, one 301 00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 2: was coming out into the gay world. The closet door 302 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 2: becomes a portal to a world poised with open arms. 303 00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:52,800 Speaker 2: A month after the riots, on July twenty seventh of 304 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty nine, a group of about five hundred people 305 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,000 Speaker 2: joined a vigil and marched in Greenwich Village Demonstrator's Mind. 306 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:04,600 Speaker 2: Activists gave speeches and shouts of gay power echoed through 307 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,680 Speaker 2: the streets. News of what happened at the Stonewall Inn 308 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 2: spread across the country, in part thanks to The Advocate, 309 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 2: which reprinted local reporting about the riots. The community was catalyzed. 310 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 2: Even still, Stonewall Inn couldn't hold on in the aftermath 311 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,920 Speaker 2: of the riot because it didn't have a liquor license. 312 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:26,640 Speaker 2: The venue tried to convert itself into a juice bar, 313 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 2: but this venture failed, and just three months later, with 314 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 2: dust settled and activists having gone home, the space went 315 00:20:35,119 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 2: up for lease. Over the next few decades, it morphed 316 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:40,719 Speaker 2: into all the different things in New Yorker could want, 317 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:43,920 Speaker 2: a bagel shop, a Chinese restaurant, and a shoe store, 318 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,639 Speaker 2: among them, But it would be a long time before 319 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 2: the space once again became a safe place for the 320 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,200 Speaker 2: queer community to gather. Many local gay rights groups were 321 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 2: invigorated by the events at Stonewall, and newly minted groups 322 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,440 Speaker 2: of younger folks took up the cause from their elders. 323 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 2: They created spaces for queer people to take part in 324 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 2: gay run night life in an environment free from mafia control. 325 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 2: On June twenty eighth of nineteen seventy, the Christopher Street 326 00:21:11,040 --> 00:21:14,679 Speaker 2: Liberation Day March lined up at noon in Sheridan Square 327 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 2: near the Inn and walked fifty blocks to Central Park's 328 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,879 Speaker 2: Sheep Meadow. Estimates of the crowd's size vary, but what 329 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:25,080 Speaker 2: started as a few hundred people quickly ballooned into several 330 00:21:25,119 --> 00:21:29,639 Speaker 2: thousand as the march continued. That same day, in Los Angeles, 331 00:21:30,119 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 2: a Christopher Street West Parade marched down Hollywood Boulevard. The 332 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 2: latter was more a spectacle than a march, with the 333 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:41,639 Speaker 2: Los Angeles Times later reporting queens and drag ferries with 334 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:46,560 Speaker 2: paper wings, clowns, leather jacketed motorcyclists, a lesbian on horseback, 335 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 2: a python, white huskies, American flags, hilarious and somber signs 336 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,960 Speaker 2: and chants, and a float depicting a homosexual nailed to 337 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 2: a cross ape. Smaller group marched in San Francisco. Over 338 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 2: the years, more and more cities began holding parades to 339 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,200 Speaker 2: coincide with the anniversary of the Stonewall Riot, first Boston, 340 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 2: then London, then Washington, d c. Those nights at the 341 00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 2: Inn became a beacon for people the world over, a 342 00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:19,160 Speaker 2: source of inspiration and courage that's still drawn from a. Germany, 343 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 2: for example, calls their annual Pride celebration Christopher Street Day, 344 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 2: an homage to the New York City street where American 345 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 2: queer history changed forever. Eventually, in the early nineteen nineties, 346 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 2: part of the space that had been the Stonewall Inn 347 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 2: became a bar again and was once again re christened. 348 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 2: In nineteen ninety nine, it was added to the National 349 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 2: Register of Historic Places, and in two thousand became a 350 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 2: National Historic Landmark, where you too can go enjoy a 351 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:52,280 Speaker 2: cold drink and a slice of history to this very day, safely, 352 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:58,399 Speaker 2: legally and with whomever you so choose. There's more to 353 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 2: this story. Stick around after this brief sponsor break to 354 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:14,560 Speaker 2: hear all about it. Activism doesn't always take place in 355 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:18,520 Speaker 2: the streets. It also takes place in the home. In 356 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:22,720 Speaker 2: the nineteen seventies, Mary Jane Rathbun was a fifty somethingter 357 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,679 Speaker 2: iye hop waitress with a side hustle. She was a 358 00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 2: grandmotherly type, but perhaps only as far as the gray 359 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,879 Speaker 2: hair and glasses went. She was known to swear like 360 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 2: a sailor, hang out in radical left wing circles, and 361 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 2: sell pot brownies. She would carry a big basket of 362 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 2: her wares and sell direct consumers in San Francisco's cast 363 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 2: Her district for two bucks a pop or a dozen 364 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 2: for twenty. She also did brisk business with Dennis Perone's 365 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:52,320 Speaker 2: legendary Big Top cannabis supermarket and the legal dispensary run 366 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,440 Speaker 2: out of a Castro apartment. She drummed up business by 367 00:23:55,480 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 2: posting ads on bulletin boards describing her brownies as magically delicios. 368 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:05,160 Speaker 2: As she had noticed that, in addition to getting people high, 369 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,520 Speaker 2: those with chronic illness symptoms seemed to receive relief from 370 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 2: her brownies, she began giving them away for free to 371 00:24:11,800 --> 00:24:16,880 Speaker 2: her sick neighbors. Amary inspired a loyal following her only 372 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:19,840 Speaker 2: daughter had been killed by a drunk driver, and soon 373 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 2: her neighbors became her adopted kids, and many of them 374 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:26,639 Speaker 2: were young gay men who had come to San Francisco 375 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 2: to find their chosen family. Soon growers began donating to 376 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:33,840 Speaker 2: help keep her brownie business in the game as she 377 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 2: left ihop after a fall and began working in her 378 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 2: kitchen full time. She was fifty seven when she was 379 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:44,439 Speaker 2: first arrested. According to the San Francisco Examiner, after her 380 00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:47,679 Speaker 2: first arrest in January of nineteen eighty one, a police 381 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 2: seized and i quote, twenty pounds of high grade marijuana, 382 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 2: the quantities of psilocybin, mushrooms, cocaine, and second all of 383 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,159 Speaker 2: thirty five pounds of margarine, twenty five pounds of sugar, 384 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 2: twenty five pounds of flour, twenty two dozen eggs, and 385 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 2: twenty one thousand square feet of plastic wrap, in addition 386 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:09,159 Speaker 2: to fifty four dozen freshly baked brownies. It was the 387 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,679 Speaker 2: same year that AIDS began to be widely reported in 388 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 2: the United States. After completing her mandatory community service, she 389 00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:20,520 Speaker 2: began devoting much of her time to volunteer work and baking, 390 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 2: committing herself to a life of service. She was furious 391 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 2: at the government's in action in the AIDS crisis, which 392 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:30,920 Speaker 2: had already killed many of her adopted kids from the castro. 393 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 2: Mary became a fixture of the Shanty Project a hospice 394 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 2: program for folks with terminal illness, including HIV and AIDS. 395 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:42,160 Speaker 2: She took care of the patients there in any way 396 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:46,640 Speaker 2: she could, picking up medication, shopping, and bringing food, and 397 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 2: she continued to bake those brownies. Soon she was baking 398 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,960 Speaker 2: dozens a month and distributing them to everyone in need. 399 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:58,560 Speaker 2: She started volunteering at San Francisco General Hospital's Ward eighty six, 400 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,480 Speaker 2: the country's first to outpatient clinic for people living with AIDS, 401 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:05,680 Speaker 2: In nineteen eighty six, she won her first of four 402 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 2: Volunteer of the Year awards. In nineteen ninety two, she 403 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 2: was once again arrested while baking, but her time wasn't up. 404 00:26:13,840 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 2: She was sixty eight years old, and her attitude catapulted 405 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:20,960 Speaker 2: her to fame. The Sonoma County District Attorney was determined 406 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 2: to convict Mary like any other marijuana dealer, a sentence 407 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 2: of about five years in prison, but Mary refused to 408 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:32,440 Speaker 2: take the deal and insisted on going to trial. Meanwhile, 409 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:36,159 Speaker 2: San Francisco declared an official Brownie Mary Day and referred 410 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 2: to her as the city's Mother Teresa. She was insistent 411 00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 2: that giving away pop brownies to those suffering from illness 412 00:26:42,920 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 2: was the right thing to do and pleaded not guilty 413 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:48,840 Speaker 2: while wearing a gold pot leaf necklace and a pot 414 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:54,440 Speaker 2: patterned sweater. The judge was not amused. Mary got out 415 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,040 Speaker 2: on bail and continued to be vocal expletives and all 416 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,560 Speaker 2: about the medicinal use of the plan. People from San 417 00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,159 Speaker 2: Francisco and beyond rallied behind her. The DA ended up 418 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 2: dropping all of his charges, fearing an attempted challenge to 419 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:13,200 Speaker 2: cannabis's legal status. In the end, Mary helped countless scores 420 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 2: of people in her immediate orbit and beyond in the 421 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 2: state of California would go on to legalize the plant 422 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 2: for medicinal uses in nineteen ninety six. As for Mary, 423 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 2: she passed away in nineteen ninety nine, and when she did, 424 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 2: her brownie recipe went with. 425 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:38,400 Speaker 1: Her American Shadows. As hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode 426 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,919 Speaker 1: was written by Robin Minator, researched by Robin Miniator and 427 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:46,120 Speaker 1: Cassandra de Alba, and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, 428 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: with executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. 429 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: To learn more about the show, visit grimminmile dot com 430 00:27:54,600 --> 00:27:58,800 Speaker 1: for more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app. Apple 431 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: podcasts are where ever you get your podcasts.