The Stonewall uprisings 40 years ago brought the gay rights movement to the forefront of American culture. Writer and historian David Carter assesses what progress has been made since that pivotal moment and how far the quest for equal rights has to go.

The end of this month marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, an anniversary that has been duly marked by a number of events, including a White House reception on Monday.

VILLAGE RAID

• The Stonewall Riots began late on 27 June 1969 when New York City police officers raided the popular gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village

• The raid set off a six-day series of protests, demonstrations and confrontations between the city’s gay community and the police
• Police said the raid was staged because unlicensed liquor was being sold on the premises
• The Gay Liberation Front formed just a month after the riots and soon became an international force

Stonewall veteran recalls gay riot

But because the history of the gay civil rights movement has generally not been taken seriously by educators nor by the media, people are often uncertain about what exactly Stonewall was: why did the Stonewall Riots occur and what do they mean

There had been a homosexual rights movement in Germany since the 19th century, a movement that regained some momentum after the setback caused by World War I. The movement spread in Europe, including Russia, during the 20th century and suffered further setbacks under Nazi and Communist dictatorships.

After World War II homosexual rights movements made progress in Western democracies. The homosexual rights movement began in an organized way in the United States after World War II during the Cold War when the Mattachine Society was founded.

While there was progress toward decriminalizing homosexuality in Canada and Europe, progress in the US was much slower. But in Europe, severe prejudice against homosexuality remained even in those societies where homosexual sex acts were not illegal.

It was the massive and sustained uprising against the police that erupted at the end of June 1969 when the New York City police raided a popular gay bar named the Stonewall that eventually changed the situation worldwide.

Because the riots broke out in the late 1960s after the successes of the US anti-Vietnam War movement and the black civil rights movement, the organizations that emerged immediately after Stonewall were cast in a New Left mould, which also meant a militant consciousness.

"Suddenly I had a new model: gay men as brave and creative and effective, not as sex perverts who were creeps and mentally ill"

The most successful of these organizations, the Gay Activists Alliance, modelled its actions on guerrilla theatre and added camp humour to create "zaps", demonstrations that were highly creative, highly subversive, and designed to get media attention. The result was that gay people were seen over and over in the media acting from positions of power: challenging power and unafraid.

That changed the consciousness of gay people everywhere, including even someone like myself who was a high-school student who was trying very hard to deny his homosexuality.

Suddenly I had a new model: gay men as brave and creative and effective, not as sex perverts who were creeps and mentally ill. And this is why the movement at this historical juncture grew like mushrooms: this was just what gay men and lesbians, who had been so suppressed for so long needed. And because we had witnessed the revolt of all the other oppressed groups, we knew just what to do: all the other militant movements that had changed the consciousness of the masses in the 1960s -even when they had often failed to change particular government policies or pass specific laws – offered a template for ending discrimination and prejudiced thinking.

The Stonewall Riots, in the way that they were immediately commemorated with annual marches, also offered a way to spread the gospel of freedom, equality, and liberation. They were extremely effective because one of the main obstacles against homosexual equality was invisibility.

As long as most people thought they knew no homosexuals what basis did they have for doubting the media image of lesbians and gay men as strange, lonely, sad and probably pathological beings But when real homosexuals had the courage to march in the sunlight, they did not look so different from anyone else: the normalcy was apparent.

Members of the public might see their co-worker or fellow student or neighbour in the march, and this made it easier for more and more homosexuals to "come out": to quit hiding. This in turn made it possible for people to approach politicians and demand not only that oppressive laws be overturned, but that laws to protect the civil rights of lesbians and gay men be enacted.

Fighting back

And so more and more laws outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation were passed, first on a local basis and then by states. Films and novels began to portray gay men and lesbians more fairly and more accurately.

Ground was lost as a terrifying disease with no cure that was connected in the public’s mind with homosexuality spread rapidly. Hysteria was caused in part because it was unclear how the disease was spread. Would mosquitoes or a cough spread it from an infected person to an "innocent" (ie, heterosexual) person

Again, the gay community fought back as it had during the gay liberation phase by both organizing and by a new creative media campaign. As medical knowledge progressed and the disease spread more and more, it became clear that Aids was not, after all, a "homosexual disease," and hence not a divine judgment on homosexuality.

"Equality, promised by the advent of the gay liberation movement in Stonewall’s wake, is on the horizon"

By the time of the Clinton administration, the gay civil rights movement was ready to spring ahead after 12 years of hostile Republican rule. And spring it did. Gay people were energized by the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and more and more positive and stronger media portrayals from television to Hollywood.

Now with the Obama administration in Washington after eight more years of Republican government, there had been much optimism among gay people in America. This was fuelled in part by Barack Obama’s proclamation of support for gay equality except in the area of marriage.

Now the 40th anniversary of Stonewall has simultaneously heightened the gay public’s historical awareness, making gay people impatient for action from this administration. Many are wondering whether President Obama will unveil a new policy initiative today.

But whether the Obama administration does so or not, it seems clear that the time of equality is getting close at hand: young Americans don’t even understand the idea of discrimination based on sexual orientation any more than young people in the 1990s could understand racial discrimination.

Equality, promised by the advent of the gay liberation movement in Stonewall’s wake, is on the horizon. When it finally does arrive, it will be thanks to young gay people who found the courage to stand up for themselves on the streets of Greenwich Village 40 years ago.

David Carter is the author of Stonewall: the riots that sparked the gay revolution. He is was a consultant for the BBC Radio 2 programme Stonewall: The Riots That Triggered The Gay Revolution. It will be broadcast on Tuesday 30 June 2009, 2230BST.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The Stonewall uprisings 40 years ago brought the gay rights movement to the forefront of American culture. Writer and historian David Carter assesses what progress has been made since that pivotal moment and how far the quest for equal rights has to go.

The end of this month marks the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, an anniversary that has been duly marked by a number of events, including a White House reception on Monday.

VILLAGE RAID

• The Stonewall Riots began late on 27 June 1969 when New York City police officers raided the popular gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village

• The raid set off a six-day series of protests, demonstrations and confrontations between the city’s gay community and the police
• Police said the raid was staged because unlicensed liquor was being sold on the premises
• The Gay Liberation Front formed just a month after the riots and soon became an international force

Stonewall veteran recalls gay riot

But because the history of the gay civil rights movement has generally not been taken seriously by educators nor by the media, people are often uncertain about what exactly Stonewall was: why did the Stonewall Riots occur and what do they mean

There had been a homosexual rights movement in Germany since the 19th century, a movement that regained some momentum after the setback caused by World War I. The movement spread in Europe, including Russia, during the 20th century and suffered further setbacks under Nazi and Communist dictatorships.

After World War II homosexual rights movements made progress in Western democracies. The homosexual rights movement began in an organized way in the United States after World War II during the Cold War when the Mattachine Society was founded.

While there was progress toward decriminalizing homosexuality in Canada and Europe, progress in the US was much slower. But in Europe, severe prejudice against homosexuality remained even in those societies where homosexual sex acts were not illegal.

It was the massive and sustained uprising against the police that erupted at the end of June 1969 when the New York City police raided a popular gay bar named the Stonewall that eventually changed the situation worldwide.

Because the riots broke out in the late 1960s after the successes of the US anti-Vietnam War movement and the black civil rights movement, the organizations that emerged immediately after Stonewall were cast in a New Left mould, which also meant a militant consciousness.

"Suddenly I had a new model: gay men as brave and creative and effective, not as sex perverts who were creeps and mentally ill"

The most successful of these organizations, the Gay Activists Alliance, modelled its actions on guerrilla theatre and added camp humour to create "zaps", demonstrations that were highly creative, highly subversive, and designed to get media attention. The result was that gay people were seen over and over in the media acting from positions of power: challenging power and unafraid.

That changed the consciousness of gay people everywhere, including even someone like myself who was a high-school student who was trying very hard to deny his homosexuality.

Suddenly I had a new model: gay men as brave and creative and effective, not as sex perverts who were creeps and mentally ill. And this is why the movement at this historical juncture grew like mushrooms: this was just what gay men and lesbians, who had been so suppressed for so long needed. And because we had witnessed the revolt of all the other oppressed groups, we knew just what to do: all the other militant movements that had changed the consciousness of the masses in the 1960s -even when they had often failed to change particular government policies or pass specific laws – offered a template for ending discrimination and prejudiced thinking.

The Stonewall Riots, in the way that they were immediately commemorated with annual marches, also offered a way to spread the gospel of freedom, equality, and liberation. They were extremely effective because one of the main obstacles against homosexual equality was invisibility.

As long as most people thought they knew no homosexuals what basis did they have for doubting the media image of lesbians and gay men as strange, lonely, sad and probably pathological beings But when real homosexuals had the courage to march in the sunlight, they did not look so different from anyone else: the normalcy was apparent.

Members of the public might see their co-worker or fellow student or neighbour in the march, and this made it easier for more and more homosexuals to "come out": to quit hiding. This in turn made it possible for people to approach politicians and demand not only that oppressive laws be overturned, but that laws to protect the civil rights of lesbians and gay men be enacted.

Fighting back

And so more and more laws outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation were passed, first on a local basis and then by states. Films and novels began to portray gay men and lesbians more fairly and more accurately.

Ground was lost as a terrifying disease with no cure that was connected in the public’s mind with homosexuality spread rapidly. Hysteria was caused in part because it was unclear how the disease was spread. Would mosquitoes or a cough spread it from an infected person to an "innocent" (ie, heterosexual) person

Again, the gay community fought back as it had during the gay liberation phase by both organizing and by a new creative media campaign. As medical knowledge progressed and the disease spread more and more, it became clear that Aids was not, after all, a "homosexual disease," and hence not a divine judgment on homosexuality.

"Equality, promised by the advent of the gay liberation movement in Stonewall’s wake, is on the horizon"

By the time of the Clinton administration, the gay civil rights movement was ready to spring ahead after 12 years of hostile Republican rule. And spring it did. Gay people were energized by the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and more and more positive and stronger media portrayals from television to Hollywood.

Now with the Obama administration in Washington after eight more years of Republican government, there had been much optimism among gay people in America. This was fuelled in part by Barack Obama’s proclamation of support for gay equality except in the area of marriage.

Now the 40th anniversary of Stonewall has simultaneously heightened the gay public’s historical awareness, making gay people impatient for action from this administration. Many are wondering whether President Obama will unveil a new policy initiative today.

But whether the Obama administration does so or not, it seems clear that the time of equality is getting close at hand: young Americans don’t even understand the idea of discrimination based on sexual orientation any more than young people in the 1990s could understand racial discrimination.

Equality, promised by the advent of the gay liberation movement in Stonewall’s wake, is on the horizon. When it finally does arrive, it will be thanks to young gay people who found the courage to stand up for themselves on the streets of Greenwich Village 40 years ago.

David Carter is the author of Stonewall: the riots that sparked the gay revolution. He is was a consultant for the BBC Radio 2 programme Stonewall: The Riots That Triggered The Gay Revolution. It will be broadcast on Tuesday 30 June 2009, 2230BST.</p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Polls have opened in Argentina for mid-term legislative elections that are widely seen as a referendum on the popularity of the presidential couple.

Cristina Fernandez succeeded her husband Nestor Kirchner as president in 2007 – but has seen her popularity fall along with the country’s economy.

Mr Kirchner is standing for a congressional seat.

Opinion polls suggest the ruling Peronist party could lose its majority in the 256-seat lower house.

The party may also struggle to keep hold of the 72-seat Senate.

More than 28 million people are eligible to vote.

The elections are taking place against a backdrop of deep economic problems, and amid complaints of government incompetence, the BBC’s Candace Piette in Buenos Aires says.

ARGENTINE MID-TERM ELECTIONS

• Brought forward from 25 October to 28 June
• Half of the 256 Chamber of Deputies seats at stake: four-year term
• Third of the 72-seat Senate being chosen: six-year term

Poll test for power couple

Official figures, long contested, put inflation at around 5% while private analysts says the annual inflation rate is at least 15%.

Consumer spending has slumped, and crime and poverty are more visible.

Many Argentines have been shifting their savings into dollars and sending it offshore, uncertain of the government’s ability to deal with their economic woes, our correspondent says.

A damaging row between the Kirchners and the country’s powerful agricultural sector over taxation has added to people’s concerns, she adds.

Mr Kirchner – who was president between 2003 and 2007 – is still widely considered to be the main power-broker behind his wife’s administration.

He faces a tough race to win the populous province of Buenos Aires.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A new president has been sworn into office in Honduras, hours after the ousting of President Manuel Zelaya.

Congress speaker Roberto Micheletti will serve as interim president until polls are held, Congress said.

The removal of Mr Zelaya by the army came amid a power struggle over his plans for constitutional change.

Mr Zelaya, who had been in power since 2006, wanted to hold a referendum that could have led to an extension of his non-renewable four-year term.

Polls for the referendum had been due to open early on Sunday – but troops instead took him from the presidential palace and flew him to Costa Rica.

The ousting of Manuel Zelaya has been criticised by regional neighbours, the US and the United Nations.

In the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, groups of Zelaya supporters were said to have set up barricades, while troops were at key sites.

Mr Micheletti told a press conference that a nationwide curfew was being imposed for Sunday and Monday, running from 2100 (0300 GMT) to 0600 (1200 GMT) on each night.

Days of tension

The swearing in of Roberto Micheletti – constitutionally second in line for the presidency – was greeted with applause in Congress.

"This was a plot by a very voracious elite, which wants to keep this country in an extreme level of poverty"

President Manuel Zelaya

In pictures: President ousted

Profile: Manuel Zelaya

World reaction: Honduran crisis

"My slogan will be the reconciliation of the grand family of Hondurans… and a grand national dialogue," he said.

Congress said he would serve until 27 January, when Mr Zelaya’s term was due to expire. Presidential elections are planned for 29 November.

Both Congress and the courts had opposed Mr Zelaya’s referendum, which asked Hondurans to endorse a vote on unspecified constitutional changes alongside the November elections.

Tensions over the issue had been escalating for several days, with the army refusing to help with preparations for the referendum.

Just before dawn on Sunday, troops stormed the president’s residence. There was confusion over his whereabouts for several hours before he turned up in Costa Rica.

Mr Zelaya urged Hondurans to resist those who had removed him, calling his ouster "a plot by a very voracious elite, an elite which wants only to keep this country isolated, in an extreme level of poverty".

But Congress said it had voted to remove him because of his "repeated violations of the constitution and the law and disregard of orders and judgments of the institutions".

In Tegucigalpa, groups of Zelaya supporters were setting up roadblocks around the presidential palace, Reuters said.

One man told the BBC that he had been in the city’s main square all day, along with 2,000 Zelaya supporters. Jeronimo Pastor described the situation as tense and called on the international community to get involved.

But another resident of the capital said people were relieved at Mr Zelaya’s removal. "Now we have a new president and will have elections and things will go back to normal," Kenneth Bustillo told the BBC.

The removal of Mr Zelaya has drawn criticism across Latin America and the wide world.

The Organization of American States held an emergency meeting, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for "the reinstatement of the democratically elected representatives of the country".

US President Barack Obama urged Honduras to "respect the rule of law" and a State Department official said America recognised Mr Zelaya as the duly elected president. The European Union called for "a swift return to constitutional normality".

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, meanwhile, blamed "the Yankee empire", and threatened military action should the Venezuelan ambassador to Honduras be attacked.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has been arrested by troops ahead of a controversial constitutional referendum.

Mr Zelaya’s secretary said that the president had been taken to an airbase outside the capital, Tegucigalpa.

The move comes days after the president sacked the armed forces chief, who had refused to back the referendum plan.

Mr Zelaya – elected in 2006 for a non-renewable four-year term – wants a vote to enable him to seek a second term.

An AP reporter saw dozens of soldiers surround the president’s house on Sunday morning and about 60 police guarding the house.

It comes after Mr Zelaya – an ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez – told Spain’s El Pais newspaper a planned coup attempt against him was thwarted after the US refused to back it.

A decision in Congress last week seemed to have halted plans for the referendum, which had been due to take place on Sunday, after the courts also deemed it unlawful.

The referendum was originally scheduled to have taken place at the same time as the presidential election in November. </p

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A man with dual Canadian-Sudanese citizenship has arrived in Canada after being stranded in Sudan for six years.

Abousfian Abdelrazik was arrested while visiting his sick mother in 2003, and accused of having links with al-Qaeda.

Canada refused to renew his passport, but after his release he stayed at the Canadian embassy in Khartoum.

On 4 June a Canadian court ordered the government to allow him to return. He denies any links to terrorism and has not been charged with any crimes.

Blacklist

Mr Abdelrazik was greeted by dozens of well-wishers as he arrived at Toronto airport late on Saturday.

"I want to say to my supporters from coast to coast, every town, every city, every village, thank you very much for supporting me," he said.

During his six years in Sudan, he was twice detained as a terror suspect. He has said he was tortured.

Mr Abdelrazik’s Canadian passport expired when he was in prison. After his release he found that he was on a United Nations air travel blacklist.

He had lived in the lobby of the Canadian embassy in Sudan since April 2008, fearing arrest by local authorities.

Canadian intelligence officials have acknowledged there is no information linking him to any crime.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A pastor in the US state of Kentucky has told his flock to bring handguns to church in what he says is an effort to promote safe gun ownership.

Pastor Ken Pagano told parishioners to bring their unloaded guns to New Bethel Church in Louisville for a service celebrating the right to bear arms.

He said he acted after church members voiced fears the Obama administration could tighten gun control laws.

When the service began, some 200 people were present, AP news agency said.

"We are wanting to send a message that there are legal, civil, intelligent and law-abiding citizens who also own guns," Mr Pagano told the congregation.

"If it were not for a deep-seated belief in the right to bear arms, this country would not be here today," he said.

The pastor was also planning a handgun raffle, as well as providing information on gun safety.

In the US, the right to bear arms is enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, and there are thought to be more than 200 million firearms in private hands.

But some gun owners fear that the new administration in the White House could try to challenge or amend some gun ownership laws.

Critics of the laws, meanwhile, link high levels of gun crime with high levels of gun ownership.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

About 70 Argentine army officers can be charged with torture of their own soldiers during the 1982 Falklands War, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Over 80 cases are under investigation, including allegations of murder and causing death by starvation.

The court upheld an earlier ruling that the alleged torture could be considered crimes against humanity and rejected a petition to abandon proceedings.

An Argentine veterans’ group welcomed the ruling.

"We have been fighting for 27 years for this to become known, we are really satisfied," said Ernesto Alonso, president of the Centre for Falkland Islands Veterans.

"Next week, more soldiers will report about abuses they have suffered."

Cases that are being investigated include the alleged execution of one soldier and the fatal abandonment of another.

Veterans who brought the legal action – all conscripted into service – also say four soldiers starved to death, while several others were staked to the ground as punishment.

Britain and Argentina fought a 10-week war over the Falkland Islands, known in Argentina as the Malvinas, under British control since 1833.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Pop legend Michael Jackson has died at the age of 50. What is his legacy?