Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice

Stonewall Rebellion

The Stonewall Rebellion, also called the Stonewall Riot, is the name given to a conflict between the patrons of the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village gay bar, and members of the New York Police Department. Police officers and members of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board raided the Stonewall Inn late on the evening of June 27, 1969. The officials asked customers for identification before throwing them out of the bar one by one to be loaded into waiting paddy wagons. Onlookers gathered in front of the Christopher Street bar and ultimately, the growing crowd of bystanders and bar ...

—Carly A. Kocurek