Ever since the 1969 riots on the streets outside New York City’s Stonewall Inn, L.G.B.T.Q. communities have gathered there to express their joy, their anger, their pain and their power.
By Cheryl Furjanic
Ms. Furjanic is a filmmaker in New York City.
On June 25, 2011, I had just returned to New York City from a documentary film festival in Washington. Just a few hours before, the New York State Legislature had voted to legalize same-sex marriage for people like me and the celebration outside the Stonewall Inn was still going strong. I took a taxi straight downtown — suitcase and all — to join in. I made it home several hours later with the excitement of our community in my heart and a pink feather stuck to the wheel of my bag.
Gatherings of L.G.B.T.Q. folks near the Stonewall bar are nothing new. Beginning just one month after the June 28, 1969, Stonewall uprising, and continuing to this day, Sheridan Square and Christopher Park, just across the street from the bar, have become a place to express our joy, our anger, our grief, our pain and our power.
Inspired by the street kids, trans folks, gender-nonconforming youth, drag queens and allies who fought back at the police raid that started the uprising, activists and community members have been gathering in the shadow of the Stonewall for 50 years to say: “We are L.G.B.T.Q. people. We exist. See us, hear us. We demand our rights.”
This film explores what more than half a century of L.G.B.T.Q. history in the United States looks like when viewed through just a few blocks in New York City’s Greenwich Village. If this pavement could talk, what would it say? Everygathering depicted in our film either took place in the area around Stonewall or was an event that began or ended there. From protests, to celebrations, to vigils, to personal pilgrimages, this small piece of land has become a sacred space with a magnetic pull for L.G.B.T.Q. people from around the world. It has been a monument to our resistance and our resilience, since long before the National Parks Service declared it so.
The Stonewall uprising was the match that ignited what was then a fragilecivil rights movement. This film tells the story of the courageous New York City queers who have been guarding and tending the flame — on those same city blocks — ever since.
Cheryl Furjanicis the director of “Back on Board: Greg Louganis,” which received Emmy and Producers Guild of America nominations and was broadcast on HBO.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: [email protected].
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Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | Stonewall: The Making of a Monument
Opinion | Stonewall: The Making of a Monument
Op-Docs
Ever since the 1969 riots on the streets outside New York City’s Stonewall Inn, L.G.B.T.Q. communities have gathered there to express their joy, their anger, their pain and their power.
By Cheryl Furjanic
Ms. Furjanic is a filmmaker in New York City.
On June 25, 2011, I had just returned to New York City from a documentary film festival in Washington. Just a few hours before, the New York State Legislature had voted to legalize same-sex marriage for people like me and the celebration outside the Stonewall Inn was still going strong. I took a taxi straight downtown — suitcase and all — to join in. I made it home several hours later with the excitement of our community in my heart and a pink feather stuck to the wheel of my bag.
Gatherings of L.G.B.T.Q. folks near the Stonewall bar are nothing new. Beginning just one month after the June 28, 1969, Stonewall uprising, and continuing to this day, Sheridan Square and Christopher Park, just across the street from the bar, have become a place to express our joy, our anger, our grief, our pain and our power.
Inspired by the street kids, trans folks, gender-nonconforming youth, drag queens and allies who fought back at the police raid that started the uprising, activists and community members have been gathering in the shadow of the Stonewall for 50 years to say: “We are L.G.B.T.Q. people. We exist. See us, hear us. We demand our rights.”
This film explores what more than half a century of L.G.B.T.Q. history in the United States looks like when viewed through just a few blocks in New York City’s Greenwich Village. If this pavement could talk, what would it say? Every gathering depicted in our film either took place in the area around Stonewall or was an event that began or ended there. From protests, to celebrations, to vigils, to personal pilgrimages, this small piece of land has become a sacred space with a magnetic pull for L.G.B.T.Q. people from around the world. It has been a monument to our resistance and our resilience, since long before the National Parks Service declared it so.
The Stonewall uprising was the match that ignited what was then a fragile civil rights movement. This film tells the story of the courageous New York City queers who have been guarding and tending the flame — on those same city blocks — ever since.
Cheryl Furjanic is the director of “Back on Board: Greg Louganis,” which received Emmy and Producers Guild of America nominations and was broadcast on HBO.
The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: [email protected].
Op-Docs is a forum for short, opinionated documentaries by independent filmmakers. Learn more about Op-Docs and how to submit to the series. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.
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