Stonewall Uprising
We are the Stonewall girls
We wear our hair in curls
We wear no underwear
We show our pubic hair!
Singing these words, a jolly chorus line of drag queens wholeheartedly welcomed the Tactical Patrol Force of New York City in the early hours of 28 June 1969. The massively proportioned riot squad had come to control a historic uprising that was about to take place: It was the first time in the United States that the constantly harassed and criminalized actually fought back, not just against the raid of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Christopher Street, earlier that night but against a whole system of open and subtle repression that most notably declared homosexuality a mental illness that the ‘moral’ public was ready to fight by all means. The courage and anger that made these marginalized citizens revolt in that memorable night in 1969 inspired thousands all around the country. In the aftermath of the riots that lasted 5 days the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was formed which not only in the US, but also in Europe and Australia made gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered finally stand up for their rights.
“We’re not telling gay history, we’re telling history. That’s the story of human rights”, said David Heilbroner, co-director and writer of Stonewall Uprising, the feature-length documentary that premiered at the BFI LGBT film festival this year. It is a film that wants to tell the true story. Although there is hardly any footage of the event itself, Stonewall Uprising brings history to life. A member of the audience said after watching this film he felt like he had “actually been there”. The directors cleverly used the little footage that exists and narrated the story through the voices of those who took part — street hustlers, drag queens and a police officer that, except for the latter, all turn out to be absolutely lovely and humorous characters that everyone who watches them on screen immediately connects with.
The spark that triggered the still vastly underreported Stonewall riots jumped over and made me leave the cinema wondering whether political protest is futile or not in a postmodern world and if really all these brave people fought for has been achieved yet.
Directors: David Heilbroner and Kate Davis
USA 2010, 82 mins
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