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The Bowery Boys: New York City History

Sip-In At Julius': Gay New York In The 1960s

The Bowery Boys: New York City History

Tom Meyers

Places & Travel, History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.73.9K Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2019

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

EPISODE 292: This month New York City (and the world) celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, a combative altercation between police and bar patrons at the Stonewall Inn in the West Village, an event that gave rise to the modern LGBT movement. But in a way, the Stonewall Riots were simply the start of a new chapter for the gay rights movement. The road leading to Stonewall is often glossed over or forgotten. By the 1960s, a lively gay scene that traced back to the 19th century -- drag balls! lesbian teahouses! -- had been effectively buried or concealed by decades of cultural and legal oppression. A few brave individuals, however, were tired of living in the shadows. In this episode, we’ll be zeroing in on the efforts of a handful of young New Yorkers who, in 1966, took a page from the civil rights movement to stage an unusual demonstration in a small bar in the West Village. This little event, called the Sip-In at Julius', was a tiny but significant step towards the fair treatment of gay and lesbians in the United States. IN ADDITION: We'll be joined by Hugh Ryan, author of When Brooklyn Was Queer, to talk about the forgotten lives of LGBT people in the ever-changing borough of Brooklyn. Visit our website for photographs and more details -- boweryboyshistory.com This episode features an audio interview clip from the podcast Making Gay History, as well as a musical clip of 'I Hear A Symphony' by The Supremes (Motown). Special thanks to our sponsor this week -- Flatiron School.     Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/boweryboys

Transcript

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0:00.0

Episode 292 of The Bowry Boys.

0:03.0

This sip in at Julius, gay New York in the 1960s.

0:08.0

Hey, it's The Bowry Boys.

0:10.0

Hey.

0:11.0

Support for The Bowry Boys is provided by our listeners.

0:14.0

Join us for as little as $1 a month by visiting patreon.com slash Bowry Boys.

0:21.0

Hi there, welcome to The Bowry Boys. This is Greg Young.

0:26.0

And this is Tom Myers.

0:28.0

So this month, June 2019, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

0:36.0

An altercation which took place outside of a West Village bar on the early morning of June 28, 1969.

0:44.0

And an event which led to the birth of the LGBT movement.

0:48.0

Now we recorded a show on Stonewall two years ago.

0:52.0

And we recommend that you check that out if you don't already know the basic details of that story.

0:57.0

But generally speaking, the whole thing came about because of police crackdowns on gay bars,

1:04.0

which were largely controlled by the mob.

1:07.0

These crackdowns pushed a community to the brink and led to a major brawl on Christopher Street,

1:14.0

which lasted through the morning.

1:16.0

But over the next few days, news of that chaotic fight galvanized thousands of people from all walks of life

1:23.0

who joined in protested on the streets or just witnesses event and really saw it as a wake up call.

1:30.0

Now Stonewall has always mentioned, referred to almost like a big bang,

1:35.0

that lesbian gay men by sexuals and transgender people were just suddenly awakened to the cause of gay liberation at this particular moment.

1:43.0

As is if they hadn't existed before.

...

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