“There are hundreds of young homosexuals in New York who literally have no home. Most of them are between 16 and 25, and came here from other places without jobs, money or contacts. Many of them are running away from unhappy homes (one boy told us, 'My father called me 'cocksucker so many times, I thought it was my name.'). Another said his parents fought so much over which of them 'made' him a homosexual” (Dick Leitsch)

"The Stonewall operated as a sort of de facto community center for gay youth rendered homeless by familial and institutional rejection, who had taken refuge in New York City in hopes of finding a place where they could be in the world." (Franke-Ruta, 2013)

“According to David Carter, historian and author of Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution, the 'hierarchy of resistance' in the riots began with the homeless or 'street' kids, those young gay men who viewed the Stonewall as the only safe place in their lives.” (Pruitt, 2019)

The Stonewall Uprising started the morning of June 28th, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn.  Deputy Inspector Seymour Pine led a bar raid, which ignited an outbreak of resistance. The LGBTQ community fought back due to the built-up frustration from the constant mistreatment.  The people were tired of the social barriers and inequalities that separated the LGBTQ community from society.  The crowd of people formed outside of Stonewall began throwing objects at the police officers, which led them to retreat into the bar.  As a result, to control the situation, the Tactical Patrol Force was called, which was the city's riot police.  The uprising lasted several days after the raid and cultivated a progressive group of activists leading to the start of the gay liberation movement.

“It would see: fire hoses turned on people in the street, thrown barricades, gay cheerleaders chanting bawdy variants of New York City schoolgirl songs, Rockette-style kick lines in front of the police, the throwing of a firebomb into the bar, a police officer throwing his gun at the mob, cries of  ‘occupy—take over, take over,’ ‘Fag power,’ ‘Liberate the bar!’, and 'We're the pink panthers!’, smashed windows, uprooted parking meters, thrown pennies, frightened policemen, angry policemen, arrested Mafiosi, thrown cobblestones, thrown bottles, the singing of ‘We Shall Overcome’ in high camp fashion, and a drag queen hitting a police officer on the head with her purse.” (Franke-Ruta, 2013)

“Once the TPF arrived at the Stonewall Inn, the mood intensified, and the police tactics quickly became violent. TPF officers were dressed in full riot gear, complete with helmets, body shields, and nightsticks. They began swinging their nightsticks at people, often hitting them on the head. This was called ‘braining’—using a nightstick to strike a person’s head with full force. The goal was either to temporarily stun the victim or to knock then unconscious. As you might imagine, this is dangerous and violent, and the practice sometimes caused concussions, skull fractures, and even death.” ​​​​​​​(Pitman 61)

"'Up until the night of the police raid there was never any trouble there,' she said. 'The homosexuals minded their own business and never bothered a soul. There were never any fights or hollering, or anything like that. They just wanted to be left alone. I don't know what they did inside, but that's their business. I was never in there myself. It was just awful when the police came. It was like a swarm of hornets attacking a bunch of butterflies.'" (Lisker, 1969)