Tomorrow, June 28, is the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City. While other groups seeking civil rights had been quite active across the country, the GLBT community had not. As Wiki put it: "American gays and lesbians in the 1950s and 1960s faced a legal system more anti-homosexual than those of some Warsaw Pact countries."

[interesting note: as I was reading that part and clicking back and forth, this rather excellent section disappeared from the Wiki entry--edited out. It described the rampant persecution of homosexuals in the 1950s and 1960s. Gotta love Wikipedia.]

The Wikipedia article isn't bad, all things considered. But you'll also find good stuff here, here, and a documentary here.

Use this as an open thread.

Labels: lgbt history, Open Thread, stonewall