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The history of homosexuality has often presented gay activism as spontaneously erupting in a fit of excitement at the Stonewall Riots in June 1969. The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) in New York City was formed in reaction to the Stonewall Riots, but the Front took its political inspiration from the wider counter-culture, feminism, black power and anti-war, anti-psychiatry and free Speech movements. The GLF announced itself through three major campaigns; the defence of Louis Eakes which tackled the legal oppression experienced by lesbians and gay men, demonstrations against the evangelical National Festival of Light which challenged religious oppression and GLF's campaign against Dr Reuben's book Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Sex but Were to Afraid to Ask, which opposed oppression by medical institutions. It was when the GLF tried to act on the third liberational stage, to Change the World, that it came most directly into conflict with both the existing homosexual reform movement, particularly the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, and the Trotskyite Left.

This chapter considers the historical significance of 1968 for the gay rights movement in the context of the Stonewall Riots of June 1969. The gay rights movement of the 1970s embodied the animating spirit of late 1960s activism, with its emphasis on the revolutionary potential of personal politics; embrace of direct action and street theatre; commitment to building alternative institutions; and idealistic faith that a more equal world was possible. For a time, gay liberationists echoed the activists of 1968 by denouncing American imperialism and calling for revolution. Yet, within months of the Stonewall riots, such militancy was already on the wane, as groups like the Gay Activists Alliance emerged to lead the fight for full equality and first-class citizenship rights. This more liberal, integrationist stance has, in many ways, come to define the gay rights movement in the years since Stonewall, and helped deliver some of its signature triumphs. As well as charting this post-1968 moment, the chapter also considers those who still hold true to the revolutionary values of 1968.

This chapter continues the previous chapter’s discussion of the proliferation of lesbian and gay documentary films and provides a different insight about their creative process. The Stonewall Riots not only started the gay liberation movement but also ended the “famine” or scarcity of lesbian and gay films in mainstream media. The chapter reviews previous accounts of the increase in lesbian and gay films during the 1980s, one notably being the heralding of a period called “postaffirmation” cinema. This particular period was marked by a discursive flux around issues of identity. The chapter also reflects on performance as the crucial idiom for lesbian and gay documentarists during the period of absence of the gay liberation movement in media. They preferred artificial and hyperbolic performance discourses that pushed through and beyond the observational and interactive realist codes.

Centering the lives, experiences, and murders of transwomen activists Marsha P. Johnson and Duanna Johnson, this chapter explores the migration stories of black women across the Black Map. Emphasizing the importance of intersectionality, the authors highlight the role of race, gender violence, and homophobia in black life and politics. Focused on the connections across space and time, this chapter demonstrates the key role transwomen and women of color play in the politics and migrations of black people throughout the chocolate cities.

The Stonewall Riots of 1969 set the foundation for the civil rights movement of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) population in the United States. Despite policies and laws, which have been enacted since that historical turning point, gay men continue to experience challenges in their lives as they emerge into their sexual identities. This chapter provides an overview and the thesis of the volume, which posits that development and negotiation of gay identity is a challenge with which many gay men grapple during their lifetimes despite the advances in LGBTQ rights over the last several decades. The thesis is explored in relation to the life narratives of three generations of gay men—the Stonewall Generation, the AIDS Generation, and the Queer Generation. These narratives are indicative of the many life challenges gay men face, the impact of these challenges on health and well-being of many gay men, but also of pride, dignity, and resilience that is evidenced in the population.