June 28 will be the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which has been noted, almost mythologically, as the beginning of the gay-rights movement. Now, it marks the time of the year when cities around the world celebrate gay pride with parades just because of the significance of that one event. David Carter is the author of Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, and after years of exhaustive research, he is here to give us a very intimate snapshot of this profound moment in LGBT history.
Windy City Times: Now I'm talking to you from Andersonville, Chicago, which is kind of like the gayborhood north. I'm assuming you're at home so you're talking to me about a block and a half from the Stonewall Inn location.
David Carter: That's right. I live in Greenwich Village, and I live just outside the border of the Stonewall historic district, which was the first time the federal government recognized a historic site based on gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender history. Stonewall is on the national registry of historic places and it was also declared a national historic landmark, which puts it in the same category as the Statue of Liberty, Valley Forge [ Penn. ] and Mount Vernon [ Va. ] .
WCT: Wow! I did not know that. It all starts at Stonewall, doesn't it? I worry that the younger generation doesn't know what Stonewall was, and so it's a moment in this media revolution to remind people what happened 40 years ago and where we were as a community 40 years ago.
Take us back, David, on what you discovered. What is the bedrock of the Stonewall Riots? How was homosexuality viewed in the U.S. in 1969? What were the laws? What was the temperature ... in 1969?
DC: Well, it was radically different. At that time, homosexuality was illegal in every state except Illinois; you all have the honor of being the first state to legalize homosexual sex.
WCT: There was a lot happening here—that's why; they just had to. [ Laughs ] A lot of drinking, a lot of mafia and a lot of homos in Chicago.
DC: [ Laughs ] Well, there's a whole interesting backstory that William Eskridge tells in the book Dishonorable Passion. ... Illinois chose the way, but it would be about another 8-10 years before another state followed in Illinois' pioneering footsteps. In 1969, there were no laws protecting gay people against discrimination. Gay bars were de facto illegal as well. It was a time when the police actively entrapped men here in New York City; in the mid-'60s there were 100 arrests a week in New York City alone. And you have to remember: There were no openly gay politicians, lawyers, doctors, policemen, Hollywood stars. From a political point of view, it was pretty much a wasteland compared to the way the world is now in terms of gay civil rights.
Hear the entire interview with Amy Matheny on Windy City Queercast at www.WindyCityQueercast.com .
Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution is available at Amazon.com . Carter's Web site is www.DavidCarterAuthor.com .
Carter will be the speaker at Gerber/Hart's annual fundraiser Oct. 3. See www.gerberhart.org for more information.