Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 05, Ed. 1 Friday, June 19, 2009 Page: 19 of 96
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Thursday, several hundred people gathered
again to continue the protests. No arrests were
made these last two nights.
Friday night began the 4th of July weekend
and the Stonewall rebellion ended.
Henderson says the other 12 arrested the first
night paid a $25 fine and the arrest remained on
their records. But he refused to plead guilty and
an attorney took his case pro bono.
After a dozen trips to court, the charges
against him were dropped, and his attorney
managed to retrieve his mug shot and finger-
prints from the city.
Stonewall Inn reopened 10 days after the raid.
Henderson said a less expensive Sebring juke-
box replaced the Wurlitzer.
He says, "At first I was afraid to go there, but
the place was more popular than ever."
The bar remained open until the end of the
year when the landlord increased the rent.
Henderson was at the New Year's Eve party
that closed Stonewall Inn. He says the last song
played that night was the No. 1 hit at the time,
Diana Ross' "Someday We'll Be Together;"
Over the next 20 years, 51-53 Christopher St.
was divided into two retail spaces that at differ-
ent times were a dry cleaner, a clothing store and
a bagel shop.
In 1989, Stonewall Inn reopened at 53
Christopher St. The new incarnation includes an
upstairs cabaret space that wasn't part of the
original.
The bar has had three owners in the last 20
years. In 2006, the latest owners did six months
worth of extensive renovations before reopen-
ing the 150-year old building in March 2007.
-'HOTOS PROVIDED BY PETER FISKE AND STONEWALL VETERANS' ASSOCIATION
Peter Fiske, above, frequented the Stonewall Inn in the
1960s before he moved to California just before the
Stonewall rebellion occurred. Williamson Henderson
was underage when he was arrested that night at the
Stonewall Inn. Charges were later dropped and his
attorney recovered his mug shot, right, from police
Henderson founded the Stonewall Veterans'
Association on July 11,1969. The first gay Pride
parade was held in New York the last weekend
in June, 1970, to commemorate the first anniver-
sary of the rebellion. The site gained National
Historic Landmark status in June 1999.
Speaking of the LGBT movement today, Fiske
says, "I'm astonished we've come so far."
Another Stonewall veteran, John Diehl, who
now lives in San Diego, says, "We have come a
long way from the days of police bar busts and
harassment."
About moving forward, Fiske says, "I'll give
the Harvey Milk answer. We've got to come out
to everyone. We've got to get allies. Don't be
afraid to be ourselves and never accept defeat."
Today, Fiske is a retired Morgan Stanley mar-
gin specialist and is co-chairing the 40th
anniversary of the Stonewall Gay Liberation
Front at Pride in San Francisco.
Although not at the rebellion, Diehl says he
was a frequent Visitor to the bar at the time and
a "23-year-old Air Force enlisted guy"
Diehl downplays his role as an LGBT activist,
but saySj "In the early '80s I was instrumental in
getting employment protections written into the
Superior Court's regulations" in California.
"The quest for equality is a goal all Americans
should pursue, even if they have to be dragged
to the goal line kicking and screaming," he says;
Newton says, "We all should have the same
legal rights and our significant others should be
protected under the law."
A documentary filmmaker, Newton says he
"just produced a doc called 'Beautiful Darling'
about the transgender Andy Warhol superstar,
Candy Darling, who died in 1974 of cancer. It'll
be shown on the Sundance Channel this year."
Active as a leader of Stonewall Veterans'
Association since its founding, Henderson also
had a modeling career in NeXV York and is a
longtime member of the Screen Actor's Guild.
Exasperated by the recent defeat of marriage
rights in California, Fiske says, "I'm hoping by
Stonewall 501 won't have to do this anymore "
More photos from the Stoneivall era can be found
on the Stonewall Veterans' Association Web site at
stoJiacdlhets.org.
E-mail taffet@dallasvoice.com
Health Care Fairness
CANNOT WAIT
it4
LGBT people and people with HIV too often encounter prejudice
and discrimination from health care providers and institutions.
President Obama says health care reform cannot wait.
And we cannot wait to make sure fairness for LGBT people and
people with HIV are part of our nation's health care reform.
Join Lambda Legal's Health Care Fairness Campaign.
Sign the petition today. Take the survey.
www.lambdalegal.org/healthsurvey
jjf Lambda Legal
making the case for equality
www.lambdalegal.org/healthsurvey
06.19.09 I dallas voice I 19
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Nash, Tammye. Dallas Voice (Dallas, Tex.), Vol. 26, No. 05, Ed. 1 Friday, June 19, 2009, newspaper, June 19, 2009; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth239069/m1/19/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.