Jul
9th
2008
Wed
9th
2008
![Gays are Refused a Drink (April 21, 1966)
In 1966 New York City, it was de facto illegal to serve a drink to a homosexual. This photo by Fred W. McDarrah documents a “Sip-In [which] was the opening shot in the campaign to make gay bars legal,” according to historian David Carter.
As reported in the Village Voice article which accompanies this photo, “The action didn’t overturn the law, but it did bring awareness to the issue and led the New York City Commission on Human Rights to declare that homosexuals had the right to be served. Eventually, entrapment by police was also outlawed. Homosexuals could assemble freely and drink while they did it. The gay bar as we know it was born.”](http://media.tumblr.com/o0L8M1afQb7tk5tt4RpgF5F9_400.jpg)
Gays are Refused a Drink (April 21, 1966)
In 1966 New York City, it was de facto illegal to serve a drink to a homosexual. This photo by Fred W. McDarrah documents a “Sip-In [which] was the opening shot in the campaign to make gay bars legal,” according to historian David Carter.
As reported in the Village Voice article which accompanies this photo, “The action didn’t overturn the law, but it did bring awareness to the issue and led the New York City Commission on Human Rights to declare that homosexuals had the right to be served. Eventually, entrapment by police was also outlawed. Homosexuals could assemble freely and drink while they did it. The gay bar as we know it was born.”
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