Stonewall

About this book

The definitive history of the Stonewall riots, the first Gay Rights March, and the LGBTQ people at the center of the movement. On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall, a gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, was raided by police. But instead of submitting to the routine compliance the NYPD expected, patrons and a growing crowd decided to fight back. The five days of rioting that ensued changed forever the face of gay and lesbian life. In Stonewall, renowned historian and activist Martin Duberman tells the full story of this pivotal moment in history. With riveting narrative skill, he recreates those revolutionary, sweltering nights in vivid detail through the lives of six people who were drawn into the struggle for LGBTQ rights. Their stories combine into an unforgettable portrait of the repression that led up to the riots, which culminates when they triumphantly participate in the first Gay Rights March of 1970, the roots of today's Pride Marches. Fifty years after the riots, Stonewall remains a rare work that evokes with a human touch an event in history that still profoundly affects life today.