Employees trafficked prostitutes, and dabbled in blackmailing patrons with threats to ‘out’ them. There were no fire exits and no soap to wash the glasses. In 1966, ‘Fat Tony’ Lauria of the Genovese crime family purchased Stonewall, then an unassuming family-friendly restaurant, and converted it into a festering dump for gays. Back then, all the gay bars in New York were owned by the Mafia. Stonewall is a legend, and the mythology keeps evolving. We couldn’t have known that a routine check on an illegal business five decades ago would unleash the horror of Pride parades onto the world for the next 50 years.’ Unfortunately, Commissioner O’Neill may have apologized for the wrong reasons. The man in the strippergram uniform should have said: The Stonewall raid of Jsparked riots in New York, and is recognized as the moment the gay rights movement began. Think of it as the Olympics for meth, alcoholism, public fornication, corporate pandering, and hairy asses shoved in the faces of children.
The proclamation came as the city’s Department of Tourism gears up to host World Pride, making it the official epicenter of Pride Month activities around the globe. O’Neill has formally apologized for the raid of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan, 50 years ago.
