Something unremarkable happened on June 27, 1969 in New York’s Greenwich Village, an event which had occurred a thousand times before across the U.S. over the decades. The police raided a gay bar. The events that followed marked the beginnings of the Gay Rights Movement.
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. They are frequently cited as the first instance in American history when people in the homosexual community fought back against a government-sponsored system that persecuted sexual minorities, and they have become the defining event that marked the start of the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
Joe
The Closet Professor 
June 29th, 2011 at 12:48 am
They probably didn't know they were making history. But isn't that amazing, that our actions can create change that affect the entire course of history. Kane
June 29th, 2011 at 1:54 am
Kane, you're right. I don't think they had any idea what they had started, but I am very glad that they did. We have come a long way since 1969, and we still have a ways to go, but be are getting there.