The owners would frequently communicate with the NYPD about good times to come by for raids, and the NYPD would warn the owners ahead of time.There are even tales of the owners of these bars 'pimping' out some of their patrons, but if they did, they were never caught for it. Their sole goal was to maximize profits from their new clientele. They sold watered-down liquor, bootlegged cigarettes, and rarely kept up with the maintenance of their bars. The mafia weren't allies by any stretch of the imagination, they were just trying to make a profit, and were more than willing to exploit LGBT youth to get their money. Where, at least for a little bit, gay youths in New York had a chance to be safe for a little while and be seen drinking and dancing with one another. Naturally, he knew this wasn't legal, but in exchange for $1,200 a week, the NYPD let him run his string of bars, which in addition to Stonewall, included the lesbian Howdy club.Īnd thus, a community of gay bars and safe spaces was created in New York. One member of the family, Tony "Fat Tony" Lauria, bought the Stonewall Inn in 1966, and turned it into a gay bar. In New York City, the Genovese family, led by Vito Genovese, controlled most of the West Village. They watched the desperation of members of the LGBT community to find a safe bar to go to, and they saw a business. While most bars weren't willing to serve gay patrons under fear from the police, the mafia had no such concerns. New york city in the 1960's was a dangerous time to be gay, and a lot of them were homeless, or sex workers, and they rarely had a place to feel safe.įortunately, there was one group of people who weren't scared of the police. This left not a lot of options for gay youths. At times they would engage in the nauseating action of having a female officer take patrons to the bathroom to 'confirm their sex' (i.e. These raids involved arresting cross dressing men, women who were found to be wearing less than three 'feminine' articles of clothing, or any gay youths seen dancing or drinking together. Any bars that would frequently serve gay patrons would be raided by police. The NYPD had laws against "disorderly premises" and "moral indecency", it was illegal to serve gay people alcohol, for gay people to be seen together, or for them to dance together. The prohibition had been lifted 30 years prior, and in the new bar scene, police had various rules about who bars were allowed to serve.
In 1960's New York, it was essentially illegal to be gay. It's time to get into some weird history. Before even the famous Stonewall riots, and the heroic actions done by trans women of color. Here's your weekly pride content! As we go into the next week of pride month, it's a good time to think back on where the origins of pride and safe spaces came from.