i’m into making history

hello, i am elipheleh, i use they/them & i am an adult!

this blog is an attempt to have every gifset collated - predominantly from the rwrbedit tag, but some others too. also the incorrect posts which i adore. i've also archived promo & behind the scenes posts, making sure i'm adding alt text so everyone can access the media.

i am now re-sharing posts from the start of the rwrbedit tag (from my archives). they're tagged "q mark 2, reblogging from the start, [month, year]".

any posts about the sequel are tagged with "rwrb2" and "rwrw" at present.

i wrote a series where we learnt together. i have more ideas hopefully to come.

i add alt text to my posts & you should too.

taglist under the cut:

in 2023, ahead of the release of the film adaptation of Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue, i wrote a series of posts giving context to references they used in the novel. while we wait for the release of the second film, i spent pride month reposting the posts that contextualise the things alex mentions in chapter 7 when coming to understand his connection to the queer community and history as someone who is newly identifying as a bisexual man. the tag i used was "elio is talking about queer history".

this post exists as a masterpost that collects all the links to the individual posts.

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Stonewall

SCOTUS decision, 2015

Walt Whitman

Laws of Illinois, 1961

The White Night Riot

Paris is Burning

David Wojnarowicz - Photo from the '80s

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this is part of a series for pride month giving a base level of information about the queer history mentioned in red, white and royal blue by casey mcquiston. the masterpost is here. if you want to follow the series, i am using the tag "elio is talking about queer history".

This post will cover the AIDS pandemic, which means there will be discussion of an incredibly large number of deaths, as well as government neglect of AIDS patients due to homophobia. There will be talk of the grief from the queer community & the ways it was weaponised to protest in an attempt for fundamental change. This is not a light topic, please take appropriate care when reading. As this post is going to have a few different topics in, so I decided to actually start with a read more, rather than arbitrarily place it partway down, I'd do a list of what is covered in this post & then have it all behind the cut.

So, in order, this post covers: David Wojnarowicz; AIDS; ACT-UP. In the additional reading section is a section subtitled "NAMES AIDS Memorial Quilt". This is worth looking into if you aren't already aware.

this is part of a series for pride month giving a base level of information about the queer history mentioned in red, white and royal blue by casey mcquiston. the masterpost is here. if you want to follow the series, i am using the tag "elio is talking about queer history".

Please note the following topics are metioned: murder, AIDS - and death due to complications, sexual violence, sex work, racism, queerphobia.

Paris is Burning is a documentary film, released in 1990, that focuses on the 1980s ball culture of Harlem (New York) and the communities of gay & transgender African-American &Latino people involved in that culture. It offers an exploration of race, class, gender, and sexuality in the US at that point in time. The AIDS crisis was growing in severity, and impacted many of the people involved with the documentary. Many of them have since died due to AIDS complications - including Angie Xtravaganza (age 28), Dorian Corey (age 56), and Willi Ninja (age 45).

Documentarian Jennie Livingston interviewed key figures in the ball world, and the film features monologues from many of which addresses their understanding of gender roles, subcultures of both the ball world and the queer world, as well as sharing their own life stories. It also provides an introduction to slang terms used within the subculture, such as house, mother, shade & reading. Interspersed with this is footage of colourful ballroom performances. The documentary also looks at how AIDS, racism, poverty, violence, and homophobia impacts their lives. Some of those involved became sex workers to support themselves, at great risk to their safety - one member is found strangled to death, seemingly by a client. The 'Houses' of the ball culture provide safety and security to those disowned by queerphobic parents, as well as those largely ostracised by mainstream society.

The documentary did have some criticisms - notably for reinforcing stereotypes, having a white filmmaker, and for not properly providing compensation - but it has remained important as a depiction of ball culture, the most prominent display until Drag Race began to popularise the concept to a wider audience.

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Ball culture - also known as the Ballroom Scene/Community, Ballroom Culture or just Ballroom - takes its origins from a series of drag balls, including those organised by William Dorsey Swann (the first person known to self-describe as a drag queen) in Washington DC, during the late 1800s. These drag balls were masquerade themed and took place to defy laws which banned people from wearing clothes of the opposite gender. Many early attendees were formerly enslaved men, and the events were held in secret. While balls were integrated during a time of racial segregation, non-white performers regularly experienced racism from the white judges and performers. This prompted Black and Latino performers to create their own spaces within the subculture, and the modern culture grew out from Harlem in the late 1960s, spreading to other major cities soon after.

The structural and cultural issues facing the community in 1980s New York - including poverty, racism, homophobia, as well as sexual violence and AIDS - didn't stop Ballroom from thriving, acting not only as an escape from real life but also offering those involved a support system that was not often present in other areas of their lives. The culture included a system of 'Houses' - headed by an elder queer person (although often not much older than those in the family), either a 'mother' (mostly gay men or trans women) or a 'father' (mostly gay men or trans men) - which would become a surrogate family for young queer Black and Latino youth who were estranged from family, homeless, and/or struggling to get by. House members would often take on the surname of their house parent, and the houses would compete together in balls - often with a specific style identifiable as belonging to that group.

Drag ball culture works to resist the dominant cultural norms people experience from wider society. The performers create a space to challenge gender roles and heteronormativity through subversive outfits, slang, and actions. It gives them a space to feel supported and to work through their abuse they experienced as members of minority groups.

The balls not only provide a community, but also provide spaces for education. Aware of the prevelence of AIDS and the lack of support, in 1990 the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) launched the Latex Ball to distribute health information to those involved in ball culture. Offering free HIV testing and prevention materials, it attracts thousands of people from around the world and is still active to this day.

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The importance of Paris is Burning continues to grow as the years pass. It was a rare film that focused on the lives of queer people of colour, whose charisma and humanity shines through in their witty to-camera interviews and their fierce routines and performances.[source]

this is part of a series for pride month giving a base level of information about the queer history mentioned in red, white and royal blue by casey mcquiston. the masterpost is here. if you want to follow the series, i am using the tag "elio is talking about queer history".

This post got quite long, so the detailed content about the White Night Riots specifically is under the read more.

I'd like to preface this one with a content warning. I will talk about the assassination of a gay politician, and the grief that surrounds that. There is also talk of the two men being shot, and homophobic slurs. The former will be clearly marked, but please take care.

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On the 21st of May, 1979, Dan White was convicted of the assassination of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. He received the lightest possible charge, enraging the city's gay community who then marched through the Castro, and violence erupted at City Hall. In retaliation, the police raided a gay bar in the heart of the Castro, Elephant Walk, shouting homophobic slurs and attacking queer people on the street. The night's events were coined the "White Night Riots", after Dan White.

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To add some context about the lead up to the riots, I need to go back in time a bit, and talk about Harvey Milk.

Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. In 1977 he became a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He moved to San Francisco in 1972, opening up a camera store in the heart of the Castro - a popular place for queer folk to live and hang out. He ran for city supervisor in 1973 and 1975, closely missing out each time.

New mayor, George Moscone, appointed Milk to the Board of Permit Appeals in 1976, making Milk the first openly gay city commissioner in the US. After the supervisor elections in San Francisco were reorganised to allow districts to elect their own choice of supervisor, Milk ran again for this position. In November 1977, Milk won by 30% against 16 other candidates. He made national headlines, being the first non-incumbent (already in office) openly gay man in the US to win a public office at an election. In a first for the city, sworn in alongside Milk were a single mother, a Chinese-American man, an African-American woman. Dan White, previously a police officer and more recently a firefighter, was sworn in as a first time supervisor as well.

Initially friendly with Milk, White later vowed to - and did - vote against every initiative Milk supported, after Milk changed his mind about the placement of a new mental health facility being placed in White's district - Milk voted in favour of it, meaning White lost and it went ahead.

Ten months after being sworn in, White resigned from the Board of Supervisors. His reasoning was that his salary was not enough to enable him to support his family. Five days after resigning, having been offered support and loans by family & constituents, he approached Mayor Moscone to ask for his resignation to be withdrawn. Initially Moscone seemed to agree, but ultimately decided he would replace him with someone more liberal, in line with the diversity of White's district & the Board of Supervisors.

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The following section discusses the assassination of Harvey Milk & George Moscone. I will note when this section ends so you can skip it if necessary.

Moscone called a press conference for the 27th of November, 1978, where he planned to announce the replacement for White. Around an hour before this was due to take place, White entered the building through a basement window - to avoid metal detectors - and went to Moscone's office. Asking for a meeting with him, Moscone accepted and while Moscone poured them both a drink, White pulled out a gun and shot the mayor twice. When Moscone was on the floor, White shot him again at close range in the head. He then reloaded his gun, and headed to Milk's office. Dianne Feinstein, then-President of the Board of Supervisors, called after him as he ran past her office. White interrupted a conversation Milk was having, and asked him to step into White's former office. After a short conversation, White shot Milk five times, including once into his head at short range.

White then fled the scene, and Feinstein entered Milk's office. She checked for a pulse, but found he was dead. At 11:20 am, she addressed the media who were waiting for the announcement of a new supervisor. Shaking badly, requiring the support of the police chief, she said:

As President of the Board of Supervisors, it's my duty to make this announcement. Both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk have been shot and killed. The suspect is Supervisor Dan White.

Harvey Milk was 48 years old, George Moscone was 49.

This marks the end of the section discussing the assassination.

White had left the building without being challenged, and called his wife from a payphone. After meeting her, he turned himself in to the precinct he had previously served at as a police officer. He was charged with two counts of murder, held without bail, and he was eligible for the death penalty. His arrest and trial demonstrated the serious tensions between the liberal San Franciscans and the more conservative, predominantly working-class Irish-American police force. Whilst White sat in his cell, former colleagues on the police force joked about the situation, and police openly wore t-shirts which had "Free Dan White" printed on them. White demonstrated no remorse.

The jury for the trial also concerned Milk's supporters, as it consisted of white, mostly Catholic, middle-class San Franciscans. They found White guilty of voluntary manslaughter, a lesser charge than first degree murder, and he was sentenced to seven years in prison. He could be released after five.

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this is part of a series for pride month giving a base level of information about the queer history mentioned in red, white and royal blue by casey mcquiston. the masterpost is here. if you want to follow the series, i am using the tag "elio is talking about queer history".

When Alex talks about the laws of Illinois, 1961, as far as I can gather he's referring to the sodomy laws which were used across the US in an underhand method to criminalise homosexuality - and in particular Illinois' decision in 1961 to repeal their sodomy law.

Before this, sodomy was as a felony in every state, punished by a long prison sentence or hard labour. The American Law Institute developed a new modernised criminal code, which included the removal of consensual sodomy from the laws prohibiting it. Illinois was the first state to adopt that recommendation, repealing the law against sodomy but adding to their legislation the new crime of "lewd fondling or caress of the body of another person of the same sex" in a public place. While this was amended two years later to say "either sex", the homophobic intent was clear. This focus on ensuring that couples, both heterosexual and homosexual, had the right to privacy in private spaces was enforced again in Illinois, in 1970 with a constitutional amendment. This granted people the right "to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and other possessions against unreasonable searches and seizures, invasions of privacy or interceptions of communications".

Following Illinois' actions, 19 more states repealed their sodomy laws throughout the 1970s. California's repeal took six years of debate and passed in 1975, only after a tie break vote by the Lt. Governor Mervyn M. Dymally. The other states mostly carried out the repeal whilst undertaking a general reform of their criminal laws.

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In 1986, the Supreme Court heard Bowers v. Hardwick. This was a challenge to a Georgia law which made sodomy a crime for everyone - not just same-sex couples. Mr Hardwick was arrested after a police officer entered his home with an out-dated warrant for a missed court date. (Hardwick had paid a fine & the issue had been settled three weeks prior.) When the police officer gained access, he discovered Hardwick and another man in bed together, engaging in consensual oral sex. The police officer then arrested both men for sodomy, after Hardwick threatened to have him fired for entering his home without a good reason. The District Attorney decided not to pursue with prosecution as the warrant was invalid as well as his own negative feelings about the sodomy laws being used in such a way. Hardwick then sued the Attorney General of Georgia in an attempt to prove the state's sodomy laws were invalid. After appeals, this made it to the Supreme Court, which rejected his attempt, and upheld the sodomy laws to be valid.

The Bowers case, and specifically the contempt displayed towards gay people in the ruling, became precedent for more discrimination against gay people. The Court argued that it was facetious to argue the fundamental right to privacy protected gay people, and that intimacy between queer couples was entirely unconnected to intimacy between heterosexual couples.

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John Lawrence, left, and Tyron Garner recite the Pledge of Allegiance at a Houston rally after the Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas that the Texas sodomy law was unconstitutional. Credit -Erich Schlegel/Dallas Morning News/Corbis

By 2003 ten states still had bans for consensual sodomy, with no specificity regarding hetero- or homosexual encounters, while four states had laws specifically for homosexual couples.

2003 is chosen as a cut off year specifically here, because of a key case that was before the Supreme Court in the first half of 2003, Lawrence v. Texas. In 1998, Lawrence - then 55 - was arrested with his friend Tyron Garner after a false police report of a man with a gun was called in. When officers entered Lawrence's apartment, he was - allegedly - engaging in consensual sex with Garner, violating the Texas sodomy laws. It should be noted that the arresting officer was not known for his honesty, and two of the four officers present didn't report seeing any sex. Lawrence himself denied that they were having sex.

Lambda Legal gay rights advocates seized the opportunity to take the case to the Supreme Court, and attempt to overturn the sodomy laws. In July 2002, attorneys for Lambda Legal asked the Supreme Court to consider three things:

1. Whether the petitioners' criminal convictions under the Texas "Homosexual Conduct" law—which criminalizes sexual intimacy by same-sex couples, but not identical behavior by different-sex couples—violate the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee of equal protection of the laws; 2. Whether the petitioners' criminal convictions for adult consensual sexual intimacy in their home violate their vital interests in liberty and privacy protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; 3. Whether Bowers v. Hardwick should be overruled.

In June, 2003, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 majority in favour of Lawrence, holding that:

A Texas law classifying consensual, adult homosexual intercourse as illegal sodomy violated the privacy and liberty of adults to engage in private intimate conduct under the 14th Amendment.

In simple words, the sodomy law in Texas was not legal, and the Bowers finding was reversed. Sodomy could not be prosecuted when applied to consenting adults in private.

It was no longer a crime to be gay.

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“The core of this opinion is that individuals have the right to choose and define their own intimate, personal relationships,” said R. Bradley Sears, director of UCLA’s Charles R. Williams Project on Sexual Orientation Law. “The connection that was made in the majority opinion is that sodomy doesn’t exist in a vacuum. That conduct exists in the context of gay and lesbian relationships and families.”

"The years have seen the rapid expansion of gay rights, with a state-by-state push for same-sex marriage heading the list. And much of this progress can be traced to Lawrence v. Texas, with its message of tolerance and inclusion in American life." [source]

this is part of a series for pride month giving a base level of information about the queer history mentioned in red, white and royal blue by casey mcquiston. the masterpost is here. if you want to follow the series, i am using the tag "elio is talking about queer history".

Walt Whitman, born May 1819, is one of America's influential poets. He is best known for Leaves of Grass, a poetry collection initially published in 1855 but continually amended until his death in 1892. It grew from 12 poems to over 400.

He has been described as a queer pioneer, and his work spoke to and inspired many queer men of the same time, including Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker. His poems often referenced queer love, although did so in ways that allowed him to deny it, and that signalled as queer to those of his own community. "The affection he felt toward these soldiers, his descriptions, seem to speak to a gay readership," Gooch said. "He wrote about 'comrades' a lot. He seemed to be writing in a sort of code."

Whitman's sexuality is, as is common with historical figures, debated. The theories range from Whitman being bisexual, to his relationships with men being deeply loving but platonic. Whitman did appear to have relationships with women, having a romantic friendship with Ellen Grey - an actress - in 1862, and he later referred to her as "an old sweetheart of mine." [Callow]

However, his relationships and encounters with men are also prevalent. Oscar Wilde was quoted as having told George Cecil Ives (a homosexual-rights activist) "I have the kiss of Walt Whitman still on my lips." [Stokes] Peter Doyle, a bus conductor, met Whitman in the mid 1860s, and they were inseparable for several years. When Doyle was interviewed in 1895, he said of Whitman: "We were familiar at once—I put my hand on his knee—we understood. He did not get out at the end of the trip—in fact went all the way back with me." [Kaplan] Another relationship Whitman had was with Harry Stafford, which lasted over several years. When writing to Whitman about the ring he had given Stafford, Stafford wrote "You know when you put it on there was but one thing to part it from me, and that was death." [Folsom]

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A very brief example of some of Whitman's poetry that has been read as queer:

Song of Myself (1892 version) 13 His blue shirt exposes his ample neck and breast and loosens over his hip-band, His glance is calm and commanding, he tosses the slouch of his hat away from his forehead, The sun falls on his crispy hair and mustache, falls on the black of his polish’d and perfect limbs. I behold the picturesque giant and love him, and I do not stop there, I go with the team also.

15 The machinist rolls up his sleeves, the policeman travels his beat, the gate-keeper marks who pass, The young fellow drives the express-wagon, (I love him, though I do not know him;)

"Live Oak, with Moss" VIII Hours of my torment—I wonder if other men           ever have the like out of the like           feelings?  Is there even one other like me—distracted           — his friend, his lover, lost to him? 

XI For an athlete loves me, and I him-But           toward him there is something fierce           and terrible in me,  I dare not tell it in words—not even in these           songs.  

See also; We Two Boys Together Clinging A Glimpse

this is part of a series for pride month giving a base level of information about the queer history mentioned in red, white and royal blue by casey mcquiston. the masterpost is here. if you want to follow the series, i am using the tag "elio is talking about queer history".

This post is very long, so I have inserted a 'read more' bar earlier than in others. There is more content under the cut this time, not just the sources/additional reading.

Obergefell v. Hodges is the proper title of the SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) decision of 2015 Alex references. This case made same-sex marriage legal and recognised on a federal level, at a majority vote of 5-4.

The two questions presented were:

Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to license a marriage between two people of the same sex? Does the Fourteenth Amendment require a state to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-state?

The court held that:

The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State. 

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While that covers the decision itself, I'm going to take the opportunity to talk more broadly about the history of same-sex marriage in the USA, leading up to and including Obergefell.

The oldest (dubiously) legal same-sex marriage was between Jack Baker and Michael McConnell, in 1971. Baker discovered that the Minnesota marriage laws did not specify gender, and as such filed for a marriage license for himself & McConnell. When they were declined, they took the case to the Minnesota Supreme Court, who ruled that marriage was to be between a man & a woman. They appealed this to the United States Supreme Court who, in the case Baker v Nelson, ruled that it was not a federal issue, but rather a states issue. This would later be used as precedence when the case of same-sex marriage's legality came up again, in 2014. After some complicated loophole use - including an adoption and legal name change - they were able to apply for, and receive, a marriage license and were married by a Methodist minister in September 1971.

In 1996, President Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage Act into federal law. This banned federal recognition of marriages which were not between a man and a woman, and allowed states to not recognise same-sex marriages which had been legally granted in other states. Following the passing of the Defense of Marriage Act, forty states introduced state level bans on same-sex marriage.

Baker v. Vermont - a different Baker from above - in 1999 led to the court to order Vermont legislature to either enact same-sex marriage, or to create an equivalent alternative. A key argument by the attorney for the plaintiffs was that Vermont allowed same-sex partners to raise children - conceived both by natural and artificial means, or adopted - but did not allow them the legal security of marriage. 'On December 20, 1999, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that the denial of marriage benefits to same-sex partners was a violation of the state constitution.' (wikipedia) The following year, the Vermont Legislature created civil unions for same sex couples, but while doing so also defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman, something that previously was not included in the statute.

In 2003, in the case of Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that the state must legally recognise same-sex marriage after recognising that civil unions would create a separate and unequal status. In the six months after same-sex marriage was legalised, approximately 6,100 marriages took place.

Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health legalised marriage regardless of gender in Connecticut in 2008. 1,746 couples married in the first year. In April 2009, Varnum v. Brien legalised same-sex marriage in Iowa. 2,020 couples married in the first year, many from neighbouring states.

Same-sex marriage became legal in Vermont in September 2009, the first state to introduce it without a Court decision. The first couple to marry in Vermont were Bill Sullivan (né Slimback) and Bob Sullivan.

I'm not going to continue listing them all one by one, but by 2013, same-sex marriage was legal in the following states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, District of Columbia, New York, Maine, Maryland, Washington (state), Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota.

in 2023, ahead of the release of the film adaptation of Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue, i wrote a series of posts giving context to references they used in the novel. while we wait for the release of the second film, i thought i would spend pride month reposting the posts that contextualise things alex mentions in chapter 7 when coming to understand his connection to the queer community and history as someone who is newly identifying as a bisexual man.

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i am aiming to post these roughly every three days, and the links will be added below - this post will function as a masterlist. if you would like to track a tag, i will be using "elio is talking about queer history".

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Stonewall

SCOTUS decision, 2015

Walt Whitman

Laws of Illinois, 1961

The White Night Riot

Paris is Burning

David Wojnarowicz - Photo from the '80s

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this is part of a series for pride month giving a base level of information about the queer history mentioned in red, white and royal blue by casey mcquiston. the masterpost is here. if you want to follow the series, i am using the tag "elio is talking about queer history".

Stonewall is one of the more well known events, but that doesn't mean that everyone knows what happened, so it's still important - I think - to cover it.

‘Stonewall’ is used by Alex to refer to the Stonewall Riots, which began on the 28th of June, 1969. Patrons of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City, fought back after a regular police raid, triggering subsequent nights of riots. The police were targeting gay bars, and had been for years. They would raid gay establishments and arrest anyone who wasn’t wearing three items of clothing that complied with their gender, in accordance with New York State law. Unfortunately, the catalyst for why the patrons fought back that night is heavily disputed, even from people present, and there is no clear answer why. Some say that a lesbian began the riot by fighting back against a policeman who was 'mauling' her, others say a trans person hit a policeman - some think that was Tammy Novak, who fought back when a cop tried to push her into a police van. What is known is that patrons refused to provide identification, and others refused to go with police. Those who weren't arrested didn't disperse as usual, but rather gathered outside the Inn watching their peers being arrested. At some point, as mentioned above, the riot began and violence broke out. The police, in trying to restrain some of the crowd, knocked people down - which only increased the anger of the crowd.

Michael Fader talks about the mood:

We all had a collective feeling like we'd had enough of this kind of shit. It wasn't anything tangible anybody said to anyone else, it was just kind of like everything over the years had come to a head on that one particular night in the one particular place and it was not an organized demonstration ... Everyone in the crowd felt that we were never going to go back. It was like the last straw. It was time to reclaim something that had always been taken from us ... All kinds of people, all different reasons, but mostly it was total outrage, anger, sorrow, everything combined, and everything just kind of ran its course.

The riots continued into the early hours of the morning, thirteen people had been arrested and some of the crowd were hospitalised. Rioting continued the following nights, but so too did the desire to organise and take action to secure gay liberation. By 1974, five years later, there were more than 800 gay organisations - compared to the 50 that pre-dated the riots.

The above image is the only known photo taken during the first night of the riots. It shows the homeless gay youth who stayed nearby the Stonewall Inn fighting with police.

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There is an ongoing debate over the importance of Stonewall within queer history. It has become synonymous with the "origin" of the gay rights movement, something which many of those involved with early activism disagree with. In the years preceding Stonewall, activists were working towards gay liberation through various different methods.

The Mattachine Society, founded in 1950 in Los Angeles by Harry Hay (and other, unnamed, friends), but spread nationally, had been carrying out "Sip-in's" in New York in an attempt to legalise gay bars. The State Liquor Authority had been denying licenses to bars which served gay people in an attempt to rid the streets of queer people & others who were seen by politicians as "undesirables". They planned that members of The Mattachine Society would enter the bar, announce their homosexuality, and wait to see if they were served. If they were not, they then would file a complaint against the bar and - more importantly - the State Liquor Authority for violating their constitutional right to free assembly & equal accommodation. Bars had been using the State Liquor Authority's requirements of "orderly conduct" to refuse service. Queer encounters between two men were classed as "disorderly", enabling the bars to discriminate against gay people. In 1966, the highest court in New York ruled in their favour, saying that the SLA could not revoke a license on the basis of homosexual solicitation.

There were many other ways queer activism was being carried out, many successful, but it would make this post much too long if I were to list it all. It’s all reasonably easy to find online, the Library of Congress link below has some useful information.

The work carried out by gay activists, especially since the 1950s, had created a point where all that was needed to ignite the gay liberation movement was one event that empowered gay men and women to band together and fight for their rights. Scholars tend to argue that the Stonewall Riots were that catalyst, especially as the media coverage meant queer Americans saw clearly that there were others fighting for their rights, and there were others who were like them.

i’m planning on reposting (not reblogging) my series about queer history references in rwrb the book through the month. it might take a little longer than i’d like - i live with very limited energy - but i’m hoping to get them all out this month. i’d really appreciate if you reblog them when the time comes, it’s so important to reblog things to give them more reach & queer history is such an important topic, especially now.

hope you are all well,

casey mcquiston on instagram stories

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as i already have a masterlist of my music posts collecting previous songs casey has discussed in the context of acd (& henry) which includes my own spotify playlists of those songs, i've added these to a new spotify playlist rather than posting all of the story screenshots.

wrote and created all that to find that casey posted their own playlist... it's here & the only differences are yes i picked wrong it shouldve been extended spanish, and theirs excludes their bonus 28th 'bed chem' one: