Then and Now: The Origins and Development of the Gay Community in South Bend

Abstract

Walking down the streets of South Bend in 2015, it would be hard
to find someone who does not know what the acronym LGBT refers to.
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people have made their way
into the national spotlight, and as a minority of individuals who were
not always so visible, one might wonder why and how LGBT people
broke through the wall that kept them out of the public eye for so long.
The Stonewall riots of 1969 were a series of open revolts against police
raids on a gay bar in New York City called the Stonewall Inn. This
event acted as the explosive push towards what was arguably the beginning
of the modem LGBT movement, and brought LGBT people to
a level of national visibility. The resistance demonstrated in those three
nights became the platform for hopping on the civil rights train that was
sweeping the nation at the time.