'Once upon a time they hit us with nightsticks, and now they're our protectors,' said Gil Horowitz, 80, a retired research psychologist in New York who took part in the riots at Stonewall.Īt gay pride parades this weekend, that evolution will be on display in cities like Denver, where the first parade in 1975 was in response to police raids on gay bars and arrests of gay men. The irony isn't lost on the gay community that used to see police as the oppressor and counts the 1969 Stonewall Inn raid as the start of the gay rights movement. Nearly 50 years later, officers armed with assault rifles stand guard outside the historic bar, protecting patrons after a gunman in Florida staged a massacre at a gay nightclub and spread fear of more attacks. Decades ago, an early morning raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York sparked violent protests among gay patrons who fought back after police burst in and tried to arrest them for daring to drink and dance with members of the same sex.
