Today marks 43 years since The Stonewall Uprising, which began after the NYC police department raided the West Village’s now famous gay bar, The Stonewall Inn, in the early hours of June 28, 1969. Above is a photo of Stonewall’s facade from the NYPL’s Digital Gallery. The photo was taken in 1969 by Diana Davies.

The uprising lead to the prompt formation of gay and lesbian activist groups, who said, “enough is enough” to law enforcement’s brutalization of queer people. While the uprising did lead to the gay and lesbian activism that culminated in our president supporting same sex marriage this past year, the interesting part about The Stonewall Inn is that its clientele at the time of the uprising was comprised of mostly drag queens, trans-people, and other people who might identify today as gender-queer. A population of people who could very well argue that the gay and lesbian activist movement has excluded them in their march forward.

If you’d like to learn more about the uprising, while also enjoying a campy musical (may as well go for full immersion), I recommend watching the 1995 flick, Stonewall. Watch the trailer here…