LGBT History Part-2

In 1961, Illinois became the first state to do away with its anti-sodomy laws, effectively decriminalizing homosexuality, called The Rejected.

In 1965, Dr. John Oliven, in his book Sexual Hygiene and Pathology, came up with the term "Transgender" to describe someone who was born in the body of the incorrect gender. However, more than ten years earlier, trans-gendered individuals became known in America when George Jorgensen Jr., had sex-reassignment surgery in Denmark to become Christine Jorgensen.

Despite the progress, LGBT individuals were still subjected to harassment and persecution. In fact, gay men and women in New York City could not be served alcohol in public. The liquor laws considered the gathering of homosexuals to be "disorderly". In fear of being shut down by authorities, bartenders would deny drinks to those suspected of being gay or kick them out. Bartenders who would serve them drinks would make them sit facing away from customers to keep them from socializing. In 1966, The Mattachine Society in New York City staged a Sip-In. In which they visited taverns, declared themselves gay, and waited to be turned away so they could use. Being denied service at the Greenwich tavern Julius, resulted in a lot of publicity and quickly reversed the anti-gay liquor laws.

The Gay Sip-In That Drew From The Civil Rights Movement To Fight Discrimination:

In 1966, in Greenwich Village, three men set out to disrupt the political and social climate of New York City. After having gone from one bar to the next the men reached Julius', a cozy tavern with a bar opposite of a small grill and isolated space in the back. They approached the bartender and proclaimed they were homosexual and then requested a drink, they were denied service. This began their "Sip-In."

The men, who were part of the Mattachine Society, wanted to demonstrate that bars in the city discriminate against homosexuals. Discrimination towards homosexuals was common at this time, but, more veiled than discriminatory legislation like Jim Crow laws in the south that forced racial segregation.

Because a person's sexual orientation couldn't be recognized as easily as a person's sex or race, the New York State Liquor authority instead based the requirements for service on what was deemed "orderly conduct". Intimate encounters between gay couples were deemed disorderly, so gay couples were often refused service at bars. Bars that serve homosexuals, risked losing their liquor license and often targeted for police raids due to the work of Major Robert F. Wagner Jr.

"At the time of the world's fair in 1964, Mayor Wagner did a huge clean up of New York City to make it more welcoming towards the visitors of New York City," said Tom Bernardino, a long Patron of Julius' since 1973'. "So, he shut down a lot of the gay establishments, went through Times Square, and cleaned that up. He wanted to rid the city of homosexuals."

In 1965, Dick Leitsch, a leader if the New York chapter of the Mattachine Society, was inspired by the sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement and decided to stage a "Sip-In" with two other members. This came at a time of a new Mayor, Lindsay being elected and Leitsch saw this as an opportunity to try and make a change.

"He was a liberal Republican." Says John D' Emilio, historian and author of Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities; The Making Of A Homosexual Minority In The United States, 1940-1970. " When the Mayor took office in January, this is why the Mattachine Society is now challenging policies. They also were challenging plain clothes harassment and plainclothes police activity that were designed to truck gay men into breaking the law."

Leitsch's plan involved revealing to the bartender that he and his colleagues week homosexuals and then being denied service. Once that happened, Mattachine Society- with the support of the American Civil Liberty Union In New York- could move forward with action against the state liquor authority.

The first part of Leitsch's plan was more difficult than expected. Prior to the demonstration, the society reached out to publications in order to properly cover the event. The original bar they chose for the Sip-In, the Ukrainian-American Village Hall, closed after reporters showed up. They went on to two more bars in search of rejection, Howard Johnson's and Waikiki, however, both establishments served the men drinks. It wasn't until they got to Julius' - a safe bet for rejection since it had just been raised a few days earlier- that they got the response they needed to move forward and expose the discriminatory law. The Sip-In was covered in the New York Times and the Village Voice, with the former publication running the story as "3 Deviated Invite Exclusion by Bars." The state liquor authority denied the discrimination claim, responding that the decision to serve or refrain from serving individuals was up to bartenders. Soon after the Commission on Human Rights got involved, claiming that homosexuals had the right to be served in bars, and the discriminatory policy by the state Liquor Authority no longer viewed homosexuals as "disorderly." Afterward, gay patrons were allowed the freedom that they hadn't experienced before.

For the next few years in New York, the gay community felt empowered. Police raids became less common and gay bar patrons, still, oppressed bun society had recovered their safe Havens. According to the historian D' Emilio, the landmark 1969 Stonewall Riots may not have happened if the gay community hadn't reaped the benefits of the Sip-in years prior.

"It has a quick impact in New York in that spring of '66. More bars started to open, they're less likely to lose their licenses, they're less likely to be raided by the police because the police are stepping back," explains D' Emilio. "After two or three years of this, more and more gay men and lesbians in New York City are coming to take this for granted."

There had been dozens of raids before the Sip-In that never garnered such a fierce reaction as Stonewall, which happened three years after the three men had stepped up to Julius' bar.

More than Fifty years later, Julius celebrates its history as one of the oldest gay bars in New York City. Lining the walls of Julius' are photos of the three men getting denied service from the bartender, next to the unsavory headline by the New York Times.

"Everybody has a history and everybody's history has a significant part in all of history," Explains Helen Buford, owner of the bar. "Yes, it is a man's gay bar but it welcomes everybody. Whoever you are, you're welcome here."