In 1969, homosexuality was illegal in almost every state....but that was about to change.
In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969 a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City erupted into six days of violent protests and street demonstrations. The Stonewall Riots, as the event came to be known, sparked the modern gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.
Today, the issue of gay rights continues to polarize communities and dominate news coverage—from the debate over the military's "don't ask don't tell" policy, to the battles over gay marriage playing out in states across the country to the hundreds who have responded to the tragic suicides of young people, bullied because they were gay, with video and social media campaigns asking youth to resist becoming another tragedy.
"Before Stonewall,
...there was no out.
There was just in."
-writer Eric Marcus
Show Us Where Stonewall is Now
We invite citizen reporters, journalists, video-bloggers, documentary story tellers, animators or new media-makers: in a 3 minute video, show us where Stonewall's legacy of courage is today.
The Contest
Every submission is welcome. The Lab will curate the best for a panel of guest judges, who will help us decide which top five, well-crafted shorts earn a $1000 prize, and what winning story may air along with the television debut of Stonewall Uprising on American Experience.
More information here.
This blog is no longer updated. Please instead visit Writers For Diversity for new opportunities for women/ LGBT writers and writers of color. Thank you.
