Pride season holds a vivid legacy of resistance, springing from queer uprisings like the 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot and the 1969 Stonewall Riots. And for the past two months, our lives and screens have been full of vibrant, global Black Lives Matter demonstrations, sparked by the murder of George Floyd by police.
Protest is all around us, a huge part of this country's civic life and history, stretching all the way back to indigenous resistance to the first European colonialists. Protest movements and individual demonstrations have often brought about real change. But other than the Boston Tea Party and the classic Civil Rights era of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — and possibly some cultural references to hippies from the Vietnam War period — many young people learn very little about the deep and vital story of how protesting has shaped the United States.
That's why I wrote Into the Streets: A Young Person's Visual History of the United States, out today from Lerner Books. It's the first book of its kind to delve into the action-packed story of how ordinary people can make an extraordinary impact on politics and culture, full of photos and descriptions of the movements, issues, and symbolism that continue to influence our own time and resonate with what's happening on the streets right now.
Into the Streets covers lesser-remembered yet pivotal actions like the 1913 Women's Suffrage Procession, an early mass media spectacle that pushed passage of the 19th Amendment toward the finish line, and the 1866 New Orleans Massacre, during which newly emancipated Black people took an early stand for civil rights in the form of a parade — and were viciously set upon by an enraged white mob. The book also digs into queer history, explaining the origin of the Rainbow Flag and the AIDS Quilt, introducing figures like Marsha P. Johnson and Harvey Milk, and outlining the importance of ACT-UP.
Above all, this is a book for and about young people. It starts with the story of the 1968 Los Angeles high school walkouts, which launched the Chicano Movement, and ends with Greta Thunberg's world-influencing climate strike and the Parkland high school mass shooting survivors' massive 2018 March For Our Lives. There's even a chapter on how to start a protest of your own, which you can read below, along with my telling of the Stonewall Riots and 1987 March on Washington stories. If you have a young person in your life who’s motivated to campaign for social change or wants to delve deeper into the history of activism, I hope this history and my book can help inspire them to make good in our world.
Rioting for Gay Liberation: The Stonewall Riots, 1969
A community forced to live in shadows proudly stands up to the police
In the 1960s, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people, and those questioning their sexual orientation or assigned gender (now known as the LGBTQ community but back then usually just called homosexual or gay) faced severe legal and social discrimination.
Gay bars, gay parties, and gay sex were illegal in most states. Dressing in clothes not considered “correct” for a person’s assumed gender could lead to prison or shame on the front page of the local newspaper. If their identities were publicized, LGBTQ people could lose their careers and homes.
Since homosexuality was officially classified as a mental disorder, the authorities (and sometimes their own families) sent many gay people to mental institutions. Believing gay people to be susceptible to blackmail and Communist influence, the US government had declared homosexuals a security risk in the 1950s and purged thousands of people from government jobs.
But a vibrant LGBTQ subculture existed. As with other minority communities, the subculture wanted recognition and social justice. Underground organizations such as the Mattachine Society in Los Angeles and the Daughters of Bilitis in San Francisco advocated for acceptance of homosexuals and eventually grew into national organizations. In April 1965, these two groups staged the first public gay and lesbian political demonstrations outside the White House and the United Nations, to call attention to the imprisonment of gay people in Cuba.
Hundreds of gay bars, nightclubs, theaters, and gathering places existed as well, in spite of being illegal. The Mafia operated many bars and clubs, especially in New York City. While the Mafia paid bribes and kickbacks to corrupt police officers to keep their illegal gathering places in business, police raids still happened.
Gay patrons, caught in these raids, were blackmailed and violently harassed. In August 1966 in San Francisco, a group of transgender women fought back against the police intimidation in what became the Compton’s Cafeteria riot. In 1967 in Los Angeles, patrons of the gay Black Cat tavern held a demonstration after police beat and arrested fourteen people there on New Year’s Eve. These events set the stage for the largest LGBTQ protest of the early gay civil rights era, the Stonewall Riots.
The Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village was a bar often targeted by police. It catered to a diverse, younger clientele, many of whom embraced the countercultural spirit of the 1960s and its emphasis on social justice and individual expression.
“Police! We’re taking the place!” came the cry from the Stonewall Inn door at 1:20 a.m.
on Saturday, June 28, 1969. The police burst into the crowded bar, and the lights came on, revealing more than two hundred people inside. Police barred their escape from the windows and doors, demanded identification from patrons, and separated transgender people into a group for officers to take into the bathroom to “confirm” their birth gender.
Unlike at previous raids, the Stonewall patrons refused to strip naked or to produce identification. In their confusion, police decided to arrest many of them and take them downtown to police headquarters. But a crowd had gathered outside to watch what was happening and heckle the officers. Witnesses say the atmosphere was a mixture of humor and hostility.
But when a police officer hit a lesbian over the head as she was led out of Stonewall, she reportedly yelled to the crowd, “Why don’t you guys do something?” The crowd, which had grown to more than five hundred people, began rioting, joined by more people from other gay bars in the area and bystanders on the street. Rioters chanted “gay power” and attempted to overturn police vehicles and slash tires.
The riots became a spectacle, lasting five more days. They attracted huge crowds that protested
for gay rights and visibility, while showing what was then scandalous public affection and continuing to battle with police. The protests drew all levels of gay New York society, from street prostitutes
to famous writers—even tourists showed up. Like many such social actions, not everyone in the community approved. The outspokenness and diversity of Stonewall clashed with the clean-cut, more “acceptable” vision of homosexuals that older gay rights organizations hoped to project to win the public’s approval.
With their diversity and radical approach, the Stonewall riots are widely considered the flash point
of the contemporary LGBTQ rights movement, which has brought everything from the decriminalization of sodomy laws to same-sex marriage. Immediately following the riots, several radical gay publications and organizations formed, including the Gay Liberation Front, the first organization with the word gay in its name.
The next year, LGBTQ people gathered in cities across the country to commemorate the riots in Gay Freedom Day picnics and parties, which later became the huge, worldwide Gay Pride or LGBTQ Pride marches and celebrations.
Out and Proud for LGBTQ Rights: Second March on Washington for Gay, Lesbian, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation, 1987
A landmark gathering energizes a national movement in a time of fear and mourning
Many LGBTQ people felt anxious and angry in 1987. AIDS had killed thousands of people, mostly gay men and people of color, since the disease was first reported in the US in 1981. Scientists had discovered that one way of spreading AIDS was through sexual contact.
Because of prejudice, the federal government had offered very few resources for research on how to stop AIDS or education about how it was spread. President Ronald Reagan didn’t mention the disease until 1985, and his press secretary had even been recorded making jokes about it.
Conservative Christian groups, with connections in the government, used the disease to paint LGBTQ people as evil, deserving the punishment of AIDS. Also in 1987, the Supreme Court upheld a law that made gay sex illegal, even between two consenting adults in their own home. Some people debated about whether gay people should be rounded up and quarantined from the general population. LGBTQ people feared for their freedom as AIDS continued to take lives.
Instead of going back into hiding, as many gay people had felt forced to do before the 1969 Stonewall Riots, LGBTQ activists decided to do the opposite. They staged a march and six-day rally that drew two hundred thousand people to demand funding for AIDS research and legislation of gay rights. The March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in October 1987 attracted national media attention and participants from around the country. Rainbow flags waved alongside US flags throughout the crowd, acts of civil disobedience blocked the Supreme Court steps, and contingents of chanting people in wheelchairs—who were ill with AIDS—led the march.
This wasn’t the first major action for gay rights in Washington, DC. One in 1979 had mobilized about eighty thousand people, forming a national movement from previously isolated, local protests. During that event, marchers demanded that Congress pass a comprehensive gay and lesbian rights bill, repeal all antigay laws, ban discrimination in hiring for jobs and the military, and find ways to protect gay and lesbian youth from bullying and harassment.
The demands of the marchers in 1987 weren’t much different. They added calls for federal funding for AIDS research, an end to racism, and legal recognition of same-sex relationships—an effort that would lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage almost thirty years later. (The rally included a mass gay wedding service, full of brides and grooms of every gender.) But the demonstration showed how much the movement for gay rights had grown in just a few years. Civil rights leader Cesar Chavez and celebrity Whoopi Goldberg were among those leading the march. Prominent politicians including congressional representative Nancy Pelosi and groundbreaking Black presidential candidate Jesse Jackson participated.
The grassroots activist organization AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT-UP) inspired many with its call to openly confront bigotry and homophobia in the search for an AIDS cure. LGBTQ people who had felt uncomfortable about who they were found support and validation. And the march and rally provided an opportunity to comfort the sick, exchange the latest news about AIDS research, and mourn with others. The massive AIDS Memorial Quilt, displayed for the first time, commemorated those who had died from the disease.
‘’We are here today to show America and the world that the gay movement is larger, stronger and more diverse than ever,’’ said participant Buffy Dunker, an eighty-two-year-old grandmother who had recently announced she was gay. The march called attention to the AIDS crisis, and the word gay—previously considered a dirty word in most of the country—was spoken aloud on national news stations. Reagan began mentioning AIDS in speeches, and some funding was granted to research it.
Another large march followed in 1993, drawing one million participants and building momentum to help elect President Bill Clinton, who promised major reforms in the way government treated gay people.
How to Start a Protest of Your Own
If you pay attention to the news, dig into social media, or look around your community, you’ll find not just issues to protest but actual protests themselves. Someone is almost always protesting something.
Usually, people need an issue to affect them directly—from possibly being drafted into a war to the closing of a local library due to budget cuts—before they consider protesting. But that doesn’t mean you can’t form an opinion on a subject and support actions taken by others expressing their frustration or sadness.
You may even want to start a protest of your own. While there is no real one-size-fits-all blueprint for protests, here are some tips that can help get you started:
- Define a goal. Although many protests are spontaneous outpourings of emotion, the key to an effective one is to know what you want to achieve, whether it’s bringing attention to an issue or trying to change a regulation or law you consider unfair. You may want to change the world, but sometimes it’s best to start small, with something that people can immediately understand and relate to.
- Choose a type. What kind of protest works best to achieve this goal? Maybe the most appropriate means is to start a petition, or hold a sit-in, or wave a sign of support or disagreement at a town meeting. Taking time to think through your idea will help its effectiveness.
- Consider the time and place. The logistics of a protest are important. Where and when is best to hold the type of demonstration you’re planning? You don’t want to show up for a sit-in where the business is closed or plan a march in a blizzard. Larger gatherings and marches usually require city permits, which may require several weeks to obtain. (You can find information about this on your local government website or by calling local government offices.)
- Find your people. Are there others in your area or online who share your views? Social media and talking with people in your community are great tools to help build momentum for your protest. When you know how much support you may have, you can plan the right kind of protest. Just remember that any strangers on the internet are still strangers in real life. Don’t agree to meet with someone you don’t know without people you trust present.
- Plan a theme. Get creative! Does a certain color represent your goal? What chants and hashtags can you use to spread your message? Do you want to wear matching T-shirts or hats? What unique talent can you use—playing an instrument or DJing, gymnastics or other sports, singing or theater—that can help draw attention? Look at other protests for eye-catching inspiration.
- List the essentials. What will you need to make the protest work?Poster board and markers for signs, bullhorns or portable speakers for amplification, and extra T-shirts and flyers for people who join in can all be essential. If you’re having a candlelight vigil, don’t forget the lighters! (Or maybe use electronic candles, because of the wind.) Make a list of what you need.
- Consider your safety. With any protest, you’ll probably encounter opposing points of view. Sometimes things can get heated. Consider the possibilities of confrontation. It’s OK not to engage or argue with someone. Are there people to turn to or places to go if things escalate? Plan for the safety of your fellow protesters and yourself by noting exit routes, emergency phone numbers, and other forms of support. Have a backup plan, or several. If your protest is online, make sure you protect your mental health by blocking any trolls, and find a friend who can take over if things get to be too much.
- Know your rights. Protesting on public property is a right, but certain regulations must be followed. Protesting on private property can be more complex and may lead to forcible removal. Civil disobedience opens you up to the possibility of arrest. Know what you may be in for by researching your rights. The ACLU has a guide to protesters’ rights at ACLU.org.
- Promote your protest. Use those hashtags to raise awareness on social media. Print flyers to hand out and posters to hang. Ask people with lots of followers to help spread the word. If you’re looking for media coverage, how about reaching out to reporters through social media or email and inviting them to the protest?
- Keep the momentum going! Don’t let things die down after the protest if you don’t immediately see the change you seek. Collect emails or phone numbers, and send out updates on any progress or plans for future actions. Form social media groups and encourage people to post and share related articles or news. Plan meetups to brainstorm ways to keep the issue in peoples’ minds.
Above all, be brave and exercise your right to express yourself in any way you see fit. You have the power to change the world.
Into the Streets: A Young Person's Visual History of the United States is out now from Lerner Books.
Get the best of what's queer. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.