On June 27, 1969, police raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York. In a spontaneous show of support and frustration, the city’s gay community rioted for three nights in the streets, an event that is considered the birth of the modern Gay Rights Movement.
Revealing and often humorous, the award winning Before Stonewall exposes the fascinating and unforgettable decade-by-decade history of homosexuality in America, from 1920’s Harlem through to World War II and the witch hunt trials of the McCarthy era.
Before Stonewall is essential viewing for all those who have celebrated their sexuality, or have been persecuted because of it.
Extras: Archive interview footage of Allen Ginsberg, Audre Lorde, Jose Sarria Q&A session with Ken Livingstone, Greta Schiller, Richard Kwietniowski (Love and Death on Long Island) hosted by Richard Newman (Big Brother), recorded April 2009 at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Short film ‘Tiny and Ruby’ (30mins, dir.Greta Schiller), an award-winning documentary about prominent black jazz trumpeter Tiny Davis and her drummer/pianist partner Ruby Lucas