The confrontations ensued the next night and set off a number of protests and demonstrations in New York City the following week and beyond. Those removed from the building gathered in crowds outside, and following the blatant assault of a handcuffed lesbian woman by police, mass upheaval took place. The bar staff were arrested and patrons inside widely set upon, with anyone not wearing three items of ‘gender appropriate’ clothing arrested. In the early hours of the morning on 28 June, 1969, one such raid took place on the Stonewall Inn. Police raids on gay bars were common, occurring around once a month per establishment, however in the period just before the riots this had increased. Stonewall’s two dance floors and jukebox established it as a popular bar, where it was one of the only places in the city that LGBTQ couples could openly interact and dance together. Often these establishments could only be run through organised crime groups due to laws against soliciting homosexual relations.
In 1966, the Mafia invested in Stonewall, turning it into a gay bar for what they believed was a lucrative business market. The Stonewall Inn has occupied 51-53 Christopher Street since 1934, when it was a bar and restaurant. It was the site of the 1969 Stonewall riots which are largely considered the be the start of the modern LGBTQ liberation movement. The Stonewall Inn, often referred to simply as Stonewall, is a gay bar and recreational pub in the Greenwich Village area of New York City.