Comic “Stonewall Riots”

The first Pride was a riot.

The Stonewall Riots are one of the most important events in queer history. For six long days, the queer community defended themselves after a police raid in the popular queer bar “Stonewall Inn” in June 1969. This lead to great progress in the international LGBTQIA+ rights movement.

I created this comic based on that evening because it’s important to remember that what some people write off as just a loud party started as a fight for our rights and should still be seen this way. It might look like a party in some parts of the world, but even that is still a fight for visibility at the very least.

The emotional storytelling made possible by the comic medium lends itself wonderfully to that intention.

This comic is a fictionalized story based on the eyewitness accounts of Yvonne “Butch” Ritter, Dick Leitsch, Charles “Valentino” Harris and Joe Caldiero.