Pridelets for June 27

On this day in 1969, Dorothy goes home as Judy Garland is laid to
rest at Ferncliff Mausoleum in Westchester, New York. Later that
evening, nine plainclothes policeman enter the Stonewall Inn at 53
Christopher Street intending to shut down the bar for operating without
a liquor license. They arrest a bartender, doorman, and three
transvestites and then try to leave. The key word here being "try." An
angered crowd begins throwing bricks, bottles and even coins at the
officers who retreat into the Stonewall. The mob breaks down the door,
screaming "PIGS!" and "FAGGOT COPS!" One terrified officer tells them
"We'll shoot the first motherf---er that comes through." Protesters then
try and set the bar ablaze, while the cops bash one protester in the
head a dozen times. Things finally calm down after about forty-five
minutes, but the gay rights movement will never be the same.