GBH Openvault

American Experience; Stonewall Uprising; Interview with Yvonne Ritter, 1 of 2

Part of Stonewall Uprising Interviews.

2011

In this interview, Yvonne "Butch" Ritter discusses Christine Jorgensen and gender identification, police raids and entrapment, and celebrating her eighteenth birthday at Stonewall when the uprising occurred.

Series

American Experience

Program

Stonewall Uprising

Program Number

2309

Title

Interview with Yvonne Ritter, 1 of 2

Series Description

As television's longest-running, most-watched history series, American Experience brings to life the incredible characters and epic stories that helped form this nation. Now in its eighteenth season, the series has produced over 180 programs and garnered every major broadcast award.

Program Description

"Stonewall Uprising" explores the dramatic event that launched a worldwide rights movement. Told by those who took part, from drag queens and street hustlers to police detectives, journalists and a former mayor of New York, and featuring a rich trove of archival footage, this film revisits a time when homosexual acts were illegal throughout America, and homosexuality itself was seen as a form of mental illness. Hunted and often entrapped by undercover police in their hometowns, gays from around the U.S. began fleeing to New York in search of a sanctuary. Hounded there still by an aggressive police force, they found refuge in a Mafia-run gay bar in Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn. When police raided Stonewall on June 28, 1969, gay men and women did something they had not done before: they fought back. As the streets of New York erupted into violent protests and street demonstrations, the collective anger announced that the gay rights movement had arrived.

Duration

0:31:01

Asset Type

Raw video

Media Type

Video

Topics

History

Creators

Davis, Kate (Producer)

Contributors

Ritter, Yvonne (Interviewee)

Publication Information

WGBH Educational Foundation

Rights Summary

Rights Holder: WGBH Educational Foundation

Citation

Chicago: “American Experience; Stonewall Uprising; Interview with Yvonne Ritter, 1 of 2,” 2011, GBH Archives, accessed December 26, 2024, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_FA73F53042D64901A4B0DF9078132621.

MLA: “American Experience; Stonewall Uprising; Interview with Yvonne Ritter, 1 of 2.” 2011. GBH Archives. Web. December 26, 2024. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_FA73F53042D64901A4B0DF9078132621>.

APA: American Experience; Stonewall Uprising; Interview with Yvonne Ritter, 1 of 2. Boston, MA: GBH Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_FA73F53042D64901A4B0DF9078132621