The Stonewall Uprising

Christopher Martin, U.S. Census Bureau, Policy Coordination Office

The Stonewall Uprising, which occurred on June 28, 1969, in New York City, represented the start of 

the modern LGBTQ rights movement. Previous gay and lesbian rights groups like the Mattachine 

Society and the Daughters of Bilitis had existed for decades; however, their membership remained 

very low and their activities, although highly visible, focused on showing that gays and lesbians could 

blend into society. The events at the Stonewall Inn represented both the physical and metaphorical 

coming out of the gay rights movement as the first mass LGBTQ demonstration to demand equality 

while simultaneously celebrating their unique and often repressed culture.

The Stonewall Inn, a dive bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, was run by organized crime 

and catered to people who, in the 1960s, didn't have other places to meet. Most notably this group 

included people who lived life openly as members of the LGBTQ community or who wanted the 

equal opportunity to display same-sex affection in public settings. In the early morning hours of June 

28, 1969, plainclothes police officers raided the establishment, which contained over 200 

people. Some customers were tired with the watered down liquor and a police-raid that went 

against the assumed protection of the mafia bar owners, some customers feared the publicity that 

may have resulted from an arrest in a known gay hangout, and some just felt fed up of not being 

able to live their lives their way during a time in the United States when more and more people were 

standing up and demanding equal respect and rights. For whatever their individual reasons, 

customers refused to comply with police orders and began resisting when the police tried to arrest 

patrons.

As supporters gathered outside the bar, the situation soon turned violent, with police and protestors 

trading blows. As the night wore on, the Stonewall Inn was 

almost destroyed as the protesters and police chased each 

other through the streets. However by 4:00 am, the crowds 

dispersed, with 14 arrested and several injured. In the 

aftermath, the participants and supporters of LGBTQ rights 

gathered in the morning to discuss how they had come 

together, and the next night saw an even larger crowd 

gather in front of the Stonewall Inn, displaying affection 

and gay pride in public when only the night before such 

actions had been confined to the dingy bar. As protesters 

and police once again confronted each other into the early 

morning hours, a realization that something had changed 

began to permeate both New York City and the nation. In 

the following weeks and months, several new groups 

sprang up which proudly used previously "taboo" words 

like "gay" and "queer." On the first anniversary of the 

Stonewall Uprisings, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago all 

had parades, marking the first gay pride parades in the 

United States.
Throughout the 1970s, gay rights groups grew in both size and impact. Several future Census 

Bureau employees, like Bill Camillo and Deborah Wiatt, participated in these groups, and would later 

bring their valuable viewpoints and experience to the Census Bureau. As lifestyles and attitudes 

changed, the Census Bureau added the option "partner or roommate" to classify the relationship of 

unmarried couples, both gay and straight in 1980, and, in 1990, added the option for "unmarried 

partner." This culminated with a report for the 2000 Census which counted 594,000 same-sex 

households, or 1-in-9 of the total count of unmarried partners. The Census Bureau has continued to 

refine methods for counting same-sex partnerships with the introduction of a similar question on the 

annual American Community Survey in 2005, offering a greater chance for communities to receive 

support and representation. Much of this progress can be attributed to the spontaneous protest 

that happened at the Stonewall Inn in 1969.