The Stonewall Riots

Oi, you. With the face, the body and all that. Yeah, you. Do you know what today is? You don't? *gasps* Well, we better sort that out, hadn't we?

Today is a very momentous day in history. Why? Because today is the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The 43rd anniversary, to be exact. It is arguably the most important event to have ever happened within LGBT history. So, what were the Stonewall Riots all about?

The Stonewall Riots were a series of impulsive, violent demonstrations against a police raid. On Friday evening, June 27, 1969, the New York City tactical police force raided a popular Greenwich Village gay bar, the Stonewall Inn. Raids were not unusual in 1969; in fact, they were conducted regularly without much resistance. However, that night the street erupted into violent protest as the crowds in the bar fought back. The backlash and several nights of protest that followed have come to be known as the Stonewall Riots.

At first, everything unfolded according to a time-honored ritual. Seven casually dressed detectives and a uniformed officer entered and announced their presence. The bar staff stopped serving the watered-down, overpriced drinks, while their Mafia bosses swiftly removed the cigar boxes which functioned as tills. The officers demanded identification papers from the customers and then escorted them outside, throwing some into a waiting paddy-wagon and pushing others off the sidewalk.

But at a certain point, the "usual suspects" departed from the script and decided to fight back. A debate still rages over which incident sparked the riot. Was it a 'butch' lesbian dressed in man's clothes who resisted arrest, or a male drag queen who stopped in the doorway between the officers and posed defiantly, rallying the crowd?

Riot veteran and gay rights activist Craig Rodwell says: "A number of incidents were happening simultaneously. There was no one thing that happened or one person, there was just... a flash of group, of mass anger."

Why do people celebrate historic events such as this, then?

The LGBT community have been targeted for ridicule and disdain for many years and it's still happening today. Unfortunately, it's led to extreme cases, such as violence within the community and, sadly, led to some LGBT people taking their lives. In less extreme cases, people in the community feel isolated and are at a higher risk of developing anxiety and depression. Still to this day, people feel ashamed of their orientation and tend to hide it for a number of months.

So, celebrating events such as this let people celebrate being who they are and to be proud of it (hence the term Gay Pride). The celebrations are not meant to be political protests, but to celebrate the rich history of LGBT and let the community celebrate who they are. Events such as these are also a great way for straight people and allies to learn more about the gay culture.

Here are some facts about the origins of pride:

1. The Stonewall riots started at 1:20am on Saturday, June 28,1969 at The Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York City. Another incident took place later that night.
2. The first gay Pride march didn’t take place until June 28, 1970. There were no floats — it was more of a politically-driven demonstration to commemorate the Stonewall Riots than the non-stop party it is today.
3. A unknown lesbian is responsible for starting the first riot. When a cop hit her in the head with a billy club and cuffed her, she turned to the crowd and screamed, “Why don’t you do something?!?” After an officer threw her into the back of a paddy wagon, “the scene became explosive”.
4. Kick lines and a re-write to the Howdy Doody theme song were part of the crowd’s reaction to the police attempting to control rioters.
5. The Stonewall Inn was owned and operated by the Mafia. There was a peephole in the door and if the bouncer didn’t recognize you or didn’t think you were gay, you weren’t getting in.
6. Stonewall had no running water behind the bar (plastic cups were not all the rage in the ’60s) and overflowing toilets were common.
7. At the time of the riots, cross-dressing was illegal. You could be arrested for not wearing a certain number of gender-appropriate garments. The night of the riot, female police officers took patrons dressed as women into the bathroom to confirm their sex.
8. Believe it or not, The Village Voice, today a gay-equality champion run by a lot of gays, took an anti-gay stance in covering the riots. Angry protesters threatened to burn their headquarters down.
9. The Voice provided favorable coverage of the Pride march the following year. In fact, the media as a whole began its painful, gradual ascent to a fair and balanced approach to LGBT issues.

So there you have it. There's lots of websites that go into more detail about the riots and you can get books about them- or, request them in- in your local library. How are you celebrating this momentous? Let us know!

A Message From Martyn, Founding Director - Photoshoot

Bridges recently organised their very own photoshoot with the theme of equality between Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning and Straight young people.

The editorial team put on their brand new Bridges t-shirts (with our new logo designed by competition winner Nikki McDermott-Roe) and took to the Hollywood Glamour scene with make-up, camera and interviews.

You can view the pictures (with more coming soon) on our Flickr gallery.

The group chose to wear purple nails and eye shadow (provided by the immensely-talented Bethan Jones) for its significance - purple has become a colour adopted by LGBT groups such as "Day of Remembrance" in memory of those who have taken their lives because of homophobic bullying.

Gwir-Vol also attended to film some footage for their new documentary, Gwirforce, premiering in May 2012.

The promotional shoot was the first of Bridges, a new and exclusive project working with LGBT young people aged 13-17 in Rhondda Cynon Taff have had. This comes ahead of their new launch which took place in April 2012 . This photoshoot was funded by O2 Think Big with the aim to promote LGBT issues and awareness of them.

The shots you see represent visually what each term means broadly, but with the same tops and make-up there is a message, and that is that no matter who we love, we are all the same. We hope you enjoy the photos as everyone worked very hard and there are some beautiful shots.

I'd like to thank Jazmin Williams (photographer), Bethan Jones (make-up artist), Nikki McDermott-Roe (logo designer), Craig Chapman, Steve, Louise, Dan and Aled from Gwir-Vol, Gareth Aled John, Portia McGrath, Anna McIntyre, Bethan Carey Jones, Shannon Power, Josephine Eddy, Nathan Mordecai, Connor Thomas, Katie Vincent and the venue.

Photos And Surveys

Hey everyone!

First of all, Happy Easter! Hope you enjoyed a chocolate filled day! If you don't celebrate, then Happy Normal Sunday!

Anyway, we thought we would bring you up to speed with things.

Wednesday 31st March was our first ever photoshoot. It was great fun and a new experience for us. We were filmed by GwirVol,  which is a partnership made up of senior representatives from organisations with a key interest or involvement in youth volunteering, which was also pretty exciting.

Our photographers for the day were editorial member, Jazmin Williams and CLIC Admin Assistant, Gareth Aled John, who mainly worked on the behind-the-scenes side of the day. We also had our fantastic make up artist, Bethan Jones, who studies make up in a college in Cardiff. Editorial members had their make up done before going on location in Treorchy Comprehensive School.

It was the first ever photoshoot we had done and we have learnt a lot from it. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to do another one in the near future! Photos will be posted on our Facebook soon, so keep an eye out.

In other news, we recently went out around Pontypridd town to deliver surveys asking different people what they already knew about LGBT and what they were and were not aware of. We plan to go around Aberdare, Treorchy and Porth to deliver more of these surveys, so if you see us out and about and are willing to fill in a survey, come and say hi!

Our logo competition closed on 8th March and our winner, Nicki McDermott-roe, received a £20 iTunes Voucher and her design will be used for Bridges RCT. Check out the winning design here. Congrats, Nicki!

If you wish to get involved with Bridges, check out the Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. We welcome anyone to the editorial team with open arms and even if you're straight, you can still participate if you feel you want to raise awareness of LGBT bullying, etc. There is a message button on the Facebook page which you can use to contact us about any questions or queries. We have a lot planned for the year ahead and would love to have you on board!

That's all for now, folks! Thank you for checking out the Bridges blog and don't forget to 'like' our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.


See ya real soon!


The Bridges Editorial Team x 

Competition Time!

Fancy a chance at winning a £20 iTunes voucher? All we need is your imagination!

Bridges is the new and exclusive project working with young lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual people in Rhondda Cynon Taff needs a logo.

The project works closely with Wicid.tv and Rhondda Cynon Taff Services for Young People. The group plans to build workshops to raise awareness and discuss LGBT issues with young people in schools and youth centres to help educate the ignorance of the topic.
94% of gay people are bullied in schools and 1 in 4 schools have NOT said homophobic bullying is wrong (Stonewall).

You can be as creative as you want, but just remember that this will be used on our websites, business cards etc so it has to be suitable and memorable. Apart from that there is just one rule – our team color is purple.

Purple has become a colour associated with LGBT groups, especially remembering that the fight will be difficult and battles exist, but we can overcome the challenges.

Entries must be in by Thursday 8th March 4pm for your chance to win an iTunes voucher!

All entries will be posted to our various pages listed below, and first prize will be used on business cards, publications for the group AND the author will receive a £20 iTunes voucher!

Two runners-up will also receive a £5 WHS voucher for their creations.

Entries can be e-mailed to us here or on our Facebook

Please include the image, your name and a contact number and we will contact the winner within 48 hours.

Thank you and good luck!

- The Bridges Editorial Team x

Introducing Bridges

This is the official Bridges blog.

"What is Bridges?", we hear you ask. Well, let us explain...

Bridges is a new project funded by O2 Think Big, and in association with Wicid.tv and Rhondda Cynon Taff's Services For Young People.

The project will involve putting together an editorial group which will create and design media relating to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

"I want to help voice people's opinion while raising awareness and trying to end discrimination. The group will meet regularly and create written articles, and possibly photographs and videos relating to the LGBT community" says Martyn David, founding director.

We are already active on some social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and are hoping to expand our social networking sites.

We hope you keep checking back to see what we're up to!

- The Bridges Editorial Team x