2: Illegal Drinking pt.2: The Stonewall Inn and Riots

Illegal Drinking pt.2: The Stonewall Inn and Riots

Get your bottles ready and your glasses prepared for the second podcast episode of the series Illegal Drinking where Maia and Grant explore various drinking anecdotes and events. In this podcast episode, sit back and listen to Grant telling Maia and their listeners the history of Stonewall Inn and how it transformed and kickstarted the gay rights' movement in the 1960s and 1970s.

And if this doesn't get your glasses clinking, then how about the fact that this comedy podcast draws elements from a history podcast in a wickedly engaging way? Tune in for the next hit in your podcast recommendations!

Key Highlights

1960s Legal Framework: Grant begins the podcast by telling Maia and their listeners about the legal framework of the 1960s to lay out the background of what's about to come. In the podcast, he talks about how being gay was illegal during that time, you could get arrested even if you were covert and hidden, for example in a bar setting. He illustrates his point with anecdotes of instances of arrests and detentions in the podcast. He also elaborates on the strict rules of that time such as even the sale of simple items like alcohol was illegal to gay consumers.

The Stonewall Uprising: The podcast continues and Grant tells the audience and Maia about the Stonewall Inn, a gaybar in New York that made historical changes for queer rights all across the country. The episode contains the elements of a storytelling podcast as the listeners hear how Stonewall was raided by the police but instead of compliance, the forces were met with resistance. Grant tells listeners how the five days of riots and the crowd fighting back greatly affected the rights and views held about gay people, changing the tides for future generations.

The First Pride: In the final section of the podcast, Grant tells Maia and the listeners the true reason why June is known as the Pride month. He talks about how the first Pride Parade was actually known as the Pride run because all queer people ran during it as they were so afraid of the other New Yorkers and the police. He then talks about how queer rights took a turn after that event and the different movements that followed reflecting on the effects and relevance the event still has today.

Key Quotes

“It is the late 1960s and the mafia is in control of many gay bars all around New York. It is quite good for the LGBTQIA community really because imagine authorities stumbling on it and being like, 'What is this?' but the mafia just says 'None of your business.' and they have to accept that.”
“The mafia must not be confused with allies in the modern sense of the word or even the 1960s sense of the word because the way the mafia treated the patrons and enterprises of the gay bars was, simply put, horrendous.”
“All queer history is like the saddest story you have ever heard but also the best dressed.”

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