Johnson.” “Sylvia Rivera.” It’s a question that calls attention to overlooked L.G.B.T. elders, but also - “Jason Mraz threw the first brick at Stonewall? “Judy Garland threw the first brick.” “Scarlett Johansson.” It’s become an inside joke about queer icons and straight allyship. Fifty years after the police raided the Stonewall Inn and its patrons mounted a resistance on the street outside, I still didn’t know the answer to this question: Who threw the first brick at Stonewall? What I did know is that I had heard this story over and over again. The gay rights movement was born in 1969 at a beloved gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. The Stonewall Riot began when a drag queen, bereft by the death of Judy Garland, threw a brick at a police officer. The riot culminated in a Rockettes-style kickline of drag queens facing down tactical police in riot gear. It’s a beautiful story, but it’s not exactly true. So, I gathered some people who were at Stonewall in 1969, some historians who had spent years studying L.G.B.T.
History and some contemporary queer writers to ask them, what’s wrong with this account of Stonewall? They helped me break it down, bit by bit.
