From an educational publisher, this solid if slightly dry overview focuses on the events of the Stonewall Riots and the immediate aftermath, and is aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards.
The book begins on the night of the police raid at the Stonewall Inn, noting (accurately) that the bar catered to “young gay men, transgender women, street youth, lesbians, and gender non-conforming people” and was a place where they could be themselves. It explains the police interest in the Inn because it was a Mafia-run bar and the Mafia were connected to financial crimes, although it never explains exactly what the Mafia is.
The events of the raid and the police actions in separating men, women, and gender non-conforming people are described in some detail, including that some of the police touched lesbians “in inappropriate ways.” It’s clear that the LGBTQ community was fed up with this kind of treatment, and understandable why they fought back. Some of those who fought back went on to become prominent activists, author Tristan Poehlmann notes, while others “disappeared from historical memory.”
After describing the riot itself, Poehlmann goes back to explore activism before Stonewall and ideas about LGBT identities from the 19th century onwards. While Poehlmann uses the term “LGBT” in an attempt to be inclusive, most of the examples here relate to lesbian and gay identities. A sidebar does look at “Sex work and transgender people,” noting that some trans people, especially trans women, have been forced into sex work as a means of survival, but this has been used to perpetuate “harmful stereotypes” and the assumption that all trans women are sex workers.
One chapter focuses on the experiences of several people who were at or near the Inn on the night of the riots: Raymond Castro, a gay man; Dave Van Ronk, a straight folk singer who was nearby and was arrested for throwing coins at police officers; and Howard Smith, a reporter for the Village Voice newspaper. Another chapter centers drag king Stormé DeLarverie, but includes a sidebar about Marsha P. Johnson. Johnson and friend Sylvia Rivera get more coverage in the next chapter, which discusses ongoing protests at the Inn the next night. Poehlmann rightly notes that gender non-conforming people were on the front lines of the fighting, probably because they were more likely to be targeted by police, and used “outrageous guerilla tactics” to counter the cops. Overall, we get a number of different perspectives and a sense of how the riots impacted an entire neighborhood.
Subsequent chapters look at the varied reactions from different parts of the LGBTQ community in the immediate aftermath. Some wanted to use the momentum to spur greater activism; others urged calm. We learn of the creation of the Gay Liberation Front, the ongoing work of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, and the first Christopher Street Liberation Day in 1970—the precursor to Pride. A few pages are given to exploring this legacy and the later fight for LGBTQ rights (including removing “homosexuality” from the list of mental disorders, marriage equality, the founding of organizations for transgender rights, and more).
Backmatter includes a timeline, glossary, essential facts, and additional resources. The book is only available in a $30+ library edition, however, which may make it a better library pick than one for home bookshelves.
