Before Stonewall

Do your first blog post:  What do you see as the cultural, historical, and political  value of a film like Before Stonewall?  Your response must be a minimum of 300 words and posted by the date noted on the course schedule.  Support your argument with evidence/examples from the film.

After watching a film like Before Stonewall it made me more aware of all the things people had to go through just to be able to express their emotions and feelings towards one another. This is a very good educational film is displays the cultural and social behavior was very wild. People were just breaking the law because it was something to do. A saying they all used to live by was ” Break the law and live as wild as you can”. Before gays were allowed to be publicly gay they had to hide who they truly were. Sexuality wasn’t a thing for anyone just yet it wasn’t something anyone did it was a behavior. Denial was the only option, for some sadly suicide was the option they chose. This film also talks about how the LGBT  evolved and how gays decided to come together and create a movement for what they believe is right. The first thing that gave them courage was gay bars and such. Just them knowing that they weren’t the only ones who felt different gave them confidence. It was very shocking to most that they can be gay in public after the movement. New York the spot for everyone to go almost like a safe haven a place people knew it was okay to be themselves. Harlem became the spot for most black gays. It wasn’t only blacks allowed but Harlem was their spot to be not that the atmosphere was gay, it was just open. Eventually, the population grew and homosexuals came out of hiding. They didn’t call their actions gay though it was just something that people did. Women started getting government/federal jobs which caused them to have to wear slacks instead of skirts so women just decided to start dressing how they wanted. Even the lesbian women got married because they “had to “ they would still be with other women whilst married. This then lead to gay women being in the military and having jobs that most men would have this created history. For gay men instead of going to the Army they joined drag-shows this was a way for them to come out of hiding and express their feelings without being judged because to everyone else it was just a show.