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History Daily

The Lonesome Cowboys Raid

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 August 2024

⏱️ 23 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 5, 1969. Police in Atlanta, Georgia raid a screening of Andy Warhol’s underground film Lonesome Cowboys, triggering a wave of protests that sparks the gay rights movement in the Deep South. This episode originally aired in 2022.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.0

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0:10.0

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0:17.0

It's approaching midnight on August 5th, 1969 in Atlanta, Georgia.

0:30.4

Inside a movie theater in the Anseley Mall shopping center,

0:33.5

young woman named Abby Drew settles down in her seat.

0:36.5

Abby has come to watch a screening of the movie Lonesome Cowboys,

0:40.5

the Western parody directed by the visual artist Andy Warhol. Due to its

0:44.9

homer erotic content, lonesome cowboys is being shown secretly and after hours.

0:49.6

Most of the audience tonight are members of the queer community.

0:53.2

Homosexuality is still considered a criminal offense in much of the United States.

0:57.4

So these people are accustomed to hiding their true identities in public.

1:01.4

But tonight inside this theater is one of the rare

1:04.3

occasions they can be themselves. Excited whispers ripple through the theaters as

1:09.6

the lights go down and the whir of the projector starts up.

1:13.6

Abby grabs a fist full of popcorn and eats it hungrily.

1:17.1

Her face illuminated by the blue tinted glow of the cinema screen.

1:20.9

She and the entire audience are transfixed, completely absorbed, until a piercing

1:27.5

whistle shatters the illusion.

1:31.0

The theater's doors fly open and a squadron of police officers storm into the room.

1:36.0

Abby whips her head around and panic, but she is blinded by the beam of a cop's flashlight.

...

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