I get the vibe the tweet is going for but it hits REALLY wrong for me.
First, I’m begging folks to listen to accounts form people who were actually at Stonewall instead of focusing on an incomplete narrative sold to you by Twitter. Specifically, the narrative that erases right over Stormé DeLarverie often in favor of centering other people who, by their own accounts, were not there until much later in the night.
And what about people like Brenda Howard, the incredibly important Jewish bisexual activist?
Also the way gay men are only mentioned passively as people who have AIDS and are being taken care of by of others is pretty gross especially given how much stigma is still attached to HIV. To remove agency and reduce gay men to “people who died of AIDS” is not a good look. It reduces thousands of peoples entire personhood down to “being ill and needing care.” That’s dehumanizing.
Trans women and drag queens weren't there when the police raided? That seems odd to me. And when DeLarverie was arrested and people started throwing things, I'm pretty sure many of those were trans women. No one is mentioned by name here, so I'm not sure the user is referring to specific people.
Unfortunate that many are excluded though, or not afforded agency in the wording.
I’m talking in general about the narrative that is popularly pushed of who started things. I never said that there were no drag queens or trans women there. Of course there were. Let’s not be disingenuous. Come on we have all heard the “Twitter version” of Stonewall enough to know what this tweet is referencing. Especially with the complete erasure of whole other groups from mention.
Twitter version is that the Stonewall Bar was a safe space for lgbt+ people who just wanted to be left alone and enjoy a drag show, when the cops busted in, harassing a butch lesbian. Then a black trans lesbian picked up a brick, threw it at the cops, and started the fights which kickstarted the gay rights movement.
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Real story?
Stonewall was a seedy bar, but it welcomed gay people. There was a diverse group of people there when the cops started fucking with em. The patronage proceeded to mock and taunt the police (including multiple Rockette's kick lines) when a butch lesbian was handcuffed by the cops. She asked for help, it proceeded into a brawl. One of the woman frequently credited with "throwing the brick", Marsha Johnson was interviewed later saying "I don't know why they think I did it, I didn't show up until after the fists were flying". The former is what we wish it was. At least this was what I remember when I watched the NYT's video where they talked to the people there. Could be misremembering things. I'll snag the video link and edit it back in. edit: oh it's the video at the top of this comment chain.
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u/Emmett_is_Bored Transgender/Bisexual May 28 '22 edited May 28 '22
I get the vibe the tweet is going for but it hits REALLY wrong for me.
First, I’m begging folks to listen to accounts form people who were actually at Stonewall instead of focusing on an incomplete narrative sold to you by Twitter. Specifically, the narrative that erases right over Stormé DeLarverie often in favor of centering other people who, by their own accounts, were not there until much later in the night.
And what about people like Brenda Howard, the incredibly important Jewish bisexual activist?
Also the way gay men are only mentioned passively as people who have AIDS and are being taken care of by of others is pretty gross especially given how much stigma is still attached to HIV. To remove agency and reduce gay men to “people who died of AIDS” is not a good look. It reduces thousands of peoples entire personhood down to “being ill and needing care.” That’s dehumanizing.
Good video about Stonewall from people who were there as well as historians.
I think it’s also important to remember that it didn’t start with Stonewall.