On the same humid summer night of Judy’s funeral in Manhattan, her signature song poured forth from city stoops, screened windows, and jukeboxes at diners and bars. And at the Stonewall Inn in the West Village, the battle cry of the Rainbow Flag was raised In a bold act of defiance. Gay patrons of the Stonewall Inn demanded their civil rights when four plain-clothesmen raided the bar at 1 AM confiscating all liquor and arresting those who resisted their demands to exit.
Their protest quickly turned violent and word spread throughout the Village that there was a police action in progress. Hundreds poured onto the scene to defend against such harassment. The action grew night after night for days until the City finally got the message that gay people were not going to tolerate such discrimination anymore.
Now considered the landmark turning point for Gay Civil Rights, the Stonewall Inn today has been landmarked as a National Historic Building, and it’s street and triangle park across from it as National Historic sites.
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