Tonight marks the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

Thirty-eight years ago the Stonewall Riots took place in Greenwich Village, New York City. Contrary to folklore, the Stonewall Riots were not initiated by the death of Judy Garland on June 22nd — yes, the gays loved Garland and many were united by her passing, but they were not pouring into the streets, shaking their fists at the sky because Miss Judy was gone.

Gay people as a whole were exhausted by the routine police raids on gay bars in New York City. On June 28th at approximately 1:20am the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Village, and chaos ensued with many LGBT people fighting back. This raid would bring over 2,000 LGBT people to the streets of the Village demanding respect, equal treatment and freedom. As legend goes the crowd began chanting, “Gay Power!”, inspired by the “Black Power” movement of the ‘60’s, and proceeded to fight the police by throwing beer bottles and garbage cans.

The night would be full of beatings and bloodshed, however, the following evening everyone returned to the bars, not knowing their resiliency would be the catalyst for the gay rights movement. Now, thirty-eight years later, LGBT people have made incredible advances from holding political office to being a force in media to gaining ground in terms of equal rights. As Diana Ross once said, “I’ve fought all my life to get here and I’m not going anywhere!”

Since the riots occurred they have been the subject of the 1995 gay romantic drama Stonewall and have appeared as a reference as a cultural milestone in other gay films and movies dealing with civil rights.

Here's to everyone who stood their ground on that night, and all who have been standing it since.

Check out the short clip below for a fun song telling the history of Stonewall, as performed by Varla Jean Merman (Girls Will Be Girls).