Stonewall Uprising Research Paper

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During an era that saw protests for women’s and African-Americans’ rights, homosexuals were also beginning the fight for equality. In the 1960s when it was normal for homosexuals to be persecuted by police, the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, was raided by the police who began arresting the patrons. On June 8, 1969, members of the gay community and sympathisers alike took a stand and refused to cooperate with the police. This stand not only raised awareness to the lack of rights for the gay community, but helped bring an end to the raids and the undeserved arrests. The 1960s was an era of darkness for a lot of civil rights. African-Americans were being discriminated against for the color of their skin. They were forced to be segregated from white …show more content…
Many religions during that time were the heart of many discrimination. “Gay men and lesbian women received almost universal moral condemnation from mainstream religions”. (Introduction: Stonewall Uprising) Even the American Psychiatric Association classified homosexuality as mental disorder rather than a way of life. Gays would be sent to seek help, and during the sessions the psychiatrists “would try to talk you into being heterosexual. If that didn't work, they would do things like aversive conditioning, you know, show you pornography and then give you an electric shock. This involves showing the gay man pictures of nude males and shocking him with a strong electric current. Over a short period of time, he will be unable to get sexually aroused to the pictures, and hopefully, he will be unable to get sexually aroused inside, in other settings as well.” (The Stonewall Uprising) If a person was viewed as a sexual psychopath, then they would be sent to a mental institution where they “were

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