Gay bar new york city 1969

NYC honors historic gay prevent with landmark status

One of the earliest sites of gay rights activism is officially New York City’s newest landmark. 

Julius’ bar, in the heart of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, received the official designation Tuesday, following a vote by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Located at 159 West 10th St., just a short walk from fellow historic gay bar Stonewall Inn, Julius’ has been open since the 1860s. It started attracting lgbtq+ patrons in the mid-20th century, and, according to the conservation nonprofit community Village Preservation, it’s the city’s oldest existing same-sex attracted bar. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 for its significance in the gay rights movement. 

Village Preservation called Tuesday’s news the culmination of a decadelong campaign to recognize one of the first planned actions of civil disobedience in the fight for LGBTQ rights, three years prior to the iconic 1969 Stonewall uprising.

In the mid-1960s, male lover rights activists frustrated by New York state’s prohibit on serving alcohol to gay customers came up with the idea of a “sip-in,” inspired at the time by widely publicized lunch counter “s

The Stonewall Inn and the History of LGBTQ Rights

The Stonewall uprising of 1969 is one of the most consequential events in LGBTQ American history and the Stonewall Inn and its environs one of the most significant places. The uprising, also described as a riot or a rebellion, played out over the course of six nights from June 28 to July 3. The event was a turning aim in the carried on LGBTQ rights movement and sparked its growth in Unused York City, Modern York State, and across the nation. Shortly after, organizations and groups formed around the land to promote LGBTQ rights, and thousands of people became active in the movement.

The Stonewall Inn bar and the adjacent Greenwich Village neighborhood, including Christoper Park, are known as significant places in LGBTQ history. The building and surrounding area possess accordingly been commended as a historic place on the local, state, and federal levels. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places (1999), as a National Historic Landmark (2000), and a New York City Landmark (2015). It was also designated as a New York Mention Historic Site in 2016 and as a National Monument that same year.

Stonewall Inn's

Stonewall Riots

The Stonewall Inn

The crime syndicate saw profit in catering to shunned lgbtq+ clientele, and by the mid-1960s, the Genovese crime family controlled most Greenwich Village gay bars. In 1966, they purchased Stonewall Inn (a “straight” exclude and restaurant), cheaply renovated it, and reopened it the next year as a gay bar.

Stonewall Inn was registered as a type of private “bottle bar,” which did not require a liquor license because patrons were supposed to bring their own liquor. Club attendees had to sign their names in a guide upon entry to maintain the club’s false exclusivity. The Genovese family bribed New York’s Sixth Police Precinct to ignore the activities occurring within the club.

Without police interference, the crime family could cut costs how they saw fit: The club lacked a heat exit, running fluid behind the prevent to wash glasses, clean toilets that didn’t routinely overflow and palatable drinks that weren’t watered down beyond recognition. What’s more, the Mafia reportedly blackmailed the club’s wealthier patrons who wanted to keep their sexuality a secret.

Nonetheless, Stonewall Inn adv became an key Greenwich Village institution. It w

How the Stonewall Uprising Ignited the Modern LGBTQ Rights Movement

In 1969, police raids of gay bars in Manhattan followed a template. Officers would pour in, threatening and beating prevent staff and clientele. Patrons would pour out, lining up on the avenue so police could arrest them.

But when police raided the Stonewall Inn in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, things didn’t go as expected. Patrons and onlookers fought back—and the days-long melee that ensued, characterized then as a riot and now known as the Stonewall Rebellion, helped spark the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement.

Each June, Pride Month honors the history of Stonewall with parades and events. In the years since the uprising, LGBTQ activists pushed for—and largely achieved—a broad expansion of their the legal rights, and in June 2015, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling guaranteeing same-sex couples the right to marry.

Before these gains, however, LGBTQ people had long been subject to social sanction and legal harassment for their sexual orientation, which had been criminalized on the pretexts of religion and morality. By the 1960s, homosexuality was clinically classified as a mental disorder,

‘Tis the season, New York! Pride Month is upon us, and we can’t wait to celebrate the history and diversity of the LGBTQ community.

And what history there is! New York has played a pivotal role in the fight for male lover rights in New York City–which has been covered in several episodes of the Bowery Boys, including:

Below, we’ve compiled a list of some historic sites that can be visited in New York that played a role in the fight for male lover rights.


5 spots to rejoice Gay History in Fresh York City

And if you’re looking for storied places to celebrate Pride in New York City this year, we’ve got some faaaaabulous suggestions. Don’t miss:

Julius’ Bar

159 W. 10th Street

Grab a cocktail and touch the history here. The walls alone will reveal you about a century worth of New York stories. Julius’ is maybe the granddaddy of gay bars in the city. One of the oldest bars in town, Julius opened in 1826 before attracting a gay clientele in the 1950s. 

On April 21, 1966 — before Stonewall — activists staged a “sip in” here to protest the New York State Liquor Authority’s code that prohibited bars

gay bar new york city 1969