The Stonewall uprising was a series of nights of resistance to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, in late June 1969, and it became a turning point for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Quick Scoop: What Happened at Stonewall?

  • In the early hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, a bar frequented by gay men, lesbians, trans people, drag performers, and street-involved youth.
  • Raids on gay bars were common, but this time people fought back instead of quietly submitting to arrest, especially when police targeted those seen as “cross-dressing.”
  • As patrons were forced outside, a crowd gathered on Christopher Street, tension rose, and people began to resist—yelling, throwing coins, bottles, and other objects at police, and pushing back against being loaded into wagons.
  • The confrontation turned into a street riot around the bar and nearby streets, with makeshift barricades, projectiles, and standoffs that lasted for hours and led to injuries, arrests, and heavy damage to the bar.
  • Protests and clashes continued over several nights as thousands of people returned to the area, chanting for “gay power” and challenging police presence in the neighborhood.

Why Stonewall Mattered

  • Stonewall wasn’t the first act of LGBTQ+ resistance, but it symbolized a clear break from quiet accommodation to open, collective defiance against police harassment and discriminatory laws.
  • Within weeks, people in the neighborhood formed new activist groups focused on visibility and political organizing, and within a year, the first gay pride marches commemorating Stonewall were held.
  • Because of this, Stonewall is widely remembered as a spark for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement in the United States and influential for movements around the world.

TL;DR: A routine police raid on the Stonewall Inn in June 1969 erupted into several nights of protests and street fighting led by LGBTQ+ people and allies, and those events became a powerful symbol and catalyst for modern LGBTQ+ rights activism.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.