Quotes
Martin Boyce: "For me, there was no bar like the Stonewall, because the Stonewall was like the watering hole on the savannah. You know, it's just, everybody was there. We were all there."
Dick Leitsch: "Well, gay bars were the social centers of gay life. Gay bars were to gay people what churches were to blacks in the South."
Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:"There were no instructions except: put them out of business. The first police officer that came in with our group said, 'The place is under arrest. When you exit, have some identification and it'll be over in a short time.' This time they said, 'We're not going.' That's it. 'We're not going.' "
Danny Garvin: "Something snapped. It's like, this is not right."
Doric Wilson: "That's what happened Stonewall night to a lot of people. We went, 'Oh my God. I am not alone, there are other people that feel exactly the same way.' "
Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD: " We didn't have the manpower, and the manpower for the other side was coming like it was a real war. And that's what it was, it was a war."
Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter, The Village Voice: "This was the Rosa Parks moment, the time that gay people stood up and said no. And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble."
John O'Brien: "In the Civil Rights Movement, we ran from the police, in the peace movement, we ran from the police. That night, the police ran from us, the lowliest of the low. And it was fantastic."
William Eskridge, Professor of Law:" The 1960s were dark ages for lesbians and gay men all over America. The overwhelming number of medical authorities said that homosexuality was a mental defect, maybe even a form of psychopathy."
Raymond Castro: "Society expected you to, you know, grow up, get married, have kids, which is what a lot of people did to satisfy their parents. I never believed in that. It eats you up inside. It eats you up inside not being comfortable with yourself."
Dick Leitsch: "Well, gay bars were the social centers of gay life. Gay bars were to gay people what churches were to blacks in the South."
Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD:"There were no instructions except: put them out of business. The first police officer that came in with our group said, 'The place is under arrest. When you exit, have some identification and it'll be over in a short time.' This time they said, 'We're not going.' That's it. 'We're not going.' "
Danny Garvin: "Something snapped. It's like, this is not right."
Doric Wilson: "That's what happened Stonewall night to a lot of people. We went, 'Oh my God. I am not alone, there are other people that feel exactly the same way.' "
Seymour Pine, Deputy Inspector, Morals Division, NYPD: " We didn't have the manpower, and the manpower for the other side was coming like it was a real war. And that's what it was, it was a war."
Lucian Truscott, IV, Reporter, The Village Voice: "This was the Rosa Parks moment, the time that gay people stood up and said no. And once that happened, the whole house of cards that was the system of oppression of gay people started to crumble."
John O'Brien: "In the Civil Rights Movement, we ran from the police, in the peace movement, we ran from the police. That night, the police ran from us, the lowliest of the low. And it was fantastic."
William Eskridge, Professor of Law:" The 1960s were dark ages for lesbians and gay men all over America. The overwhelming number of medical authorities said that homosexuality was a mental defect, maybe even a form of psychopathy."
Raymond Castro: "Society expected you to, you know, grow up, get married, have kids, which is what a lot of people did to satisfy their parents. I never believed in that. It eats you up inside. It eats you up inside not being comfortable with yourself."