Advances in medicine mean that kids today are able to start transitioning to another gender at a much younger age than a generation ago. In their own words, we get to hear from trans boys and girls, ages 9 to 13, about what it’s like growing up in a body that doesn’t match their identities. The most powerful thing about FRONTLINE’s documentary about transgender children is that it allows the kids to tell their own stories. In retrospect, we view this violent night as a catalyst for social change. It’s poignant now to re-visit this event, when a minority community fought back against police abuse. That uprising is now credited with launching the first ever gay pride parade in New York, and generations of social progress. “We discovered a power we weren’t even aware we had,” says one man who protested.
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The police never expected it, and there was no going back. As people gathered outside on Christopher Street, the crowd, fed up with police mistreatment, took a stand and fought back. In the middle of a hot June night in 1969, a group of police officers entered the bar, turned the lights off and demanded identifications.
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There, skirmishes with police were common as cops looked to raid the bar and arrest anyone violating strict social laws. The mafia-owned bar was one of the few public places where gay people could show affection and dance openly with each other.
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One was the Stonewall Inn in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Despite public alienation and shaming, the gay community found ways to create safe spaces. In the 1960s, homosexuality was still widely considered a mental illness by the medical community an society at large. This American Experience film gives the events at Stonewall meaningful context through personal interviews with people who were there. Last summer marked the 50th anniversary of a turning point in the modern gay rights movement. American Experience: “Stonewall Uprising”