I was but a young child in 1969. I had no knowledge of The Stonewall Inn or of sexuality for that matter. I remember Sesame Street, a man walking on the moon and some horrible war in a far off place called Vietnam.
Little did I know that the brave fed up downtrodden souls of a small group of misfits would change the corse of history that I might live as securely, lovingly and openly as I do today.
Stonewall Inn NYC Circa 1969
Not quite 50 years ago we couldn’t even congregate without the risk of jail.
At times in one’s life one must stand up for righteousness.
Brave souls for whom I am grateful.
Obvious societal outcasts we were.
One should never take for granted the freedom and respect we have gained. One should never assume that history will not repeat itself. One should always stand up and speak out when injustice and discrimination rear their ugly fearful heads, even when that injustice or discrimination is happening to another person, group, religion or race.
Fear is a powerful force in humanity. Fear can destroy a civilization. Overcoming societal fear starts with me, and with you, having the courage to stand for what is right.
Fearsome Beard 
that newspaper headline is offensive. I didn’t know what stonewall was back then either; I was 15 in 1969 and more about protesting the war. I bet if my gay uncle had been living in 1969, HE would have educated me!
And it’s the “the brave fed up downtrodden souls of a small group of misfits” that kicked ass before and will again to get this damn administration out of office.
I love having drinks at Stonewall when in New York. Just sit there and try to sense the souls who used to be there.
To my eternal shame, even though I would have been 22 at the time this happened and was already by then an avid follower of national and world news, as I’ve been ever since, I never became aware of this event until at least the mid-70s by which time my militancy, dormant until then, began boiling over, but only because of unfair and unequal legal treatment. My feeble ‘excuse’ for my ignorance of Stonewall is that on our own newscasts it may not have figured as the singular emblematic happening that it turned out to be – probably its significance wasn’t largely seen by the public even in America at the time., I don’t know. If it had been mentioned at all by the BBC (or our then other single news channel) it would almost certainly have been low-profile news, Sometimes time really does put things into perspective – thankfully.
We have come so far in 50 years, and yet people still live in fear, in the closet.
Great post and a timely reminder that we have MUCH for which to be thankful to our GLBT forefathers.