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beat him. Word quickly spread up and down the street and increased the number of demonstrators. Police would disperse the crowd only to see it reform even bigger. Eventually when the police re-entered the bar the angry mob blockaded them in and torched the Inn.

Police corralled a few particularly violent protesters but there were simply too many to subdue. Some protesters chanted "Gay Power" while others repeated the refrain:

We are Stonewall girls
We wear our hair in curls
We wear no underwear
We show our pubic hair
We wear our dungarees
Above our nelly knees

Throughout the riots many transgender people along with those labeled as gender non conformist's (Butch lesbians and effeminate men) were singled out from the crowd, beaten, and then arrested. On the first night there were thirteen arrests, and an unknown number of injuries. With the battle tipping the scales at two thousand protesters versus four hundred police officers, the NYPD sent in the Tactical patrol Force which was known as the riot squad. Unable to disperse the crowd, the riot went on into the morning and resumed for four more nights.

While the Stonewall Inn closed it's legacy lives on. This occasion led to the first instance of all factions of the LGBT standing together, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and most notably the oft overlooked transgender community. It was not until the twenty fifth anniversary of Stonewall that Gay Pride organizing committees saw fit to include the transgender community in the remembrance of that day, a day in which they were the primary target for arrests. The Stonewall Riots led to the formation of many gay rights groups, most notably the Gay Liberation Front, and the annual commemoration of the event led to todays Gay Pride Parades held every June around the world. This year and each after when Pride rolls around in your city, enjoy your friends, the music, and all the wonderful activities, but also take a moment to remember those that paved the way for the limited but growing rights we of the LGBT enjoy today. It is our duty to remember those that took a stand for basic human equality and continue the struggle for not only ourselves and those in the future, but for those who lived in the dark days before us.

Learn more about this author, Amanda Fox.
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