>
>Gay right s activists that
>you cite, otoh, may have fallen short on the credibility of threat dimension
>(what could they do? Attack the police with dildos? :))
>Wojtek
So funny I forgot to laugh. Try rocks, fire, and parking meters.
>Details about how the riot started vary from
>story to story. According to one account, a
>transgender woman named Sylvia Rivera threw a
>bottle at a police officer after being prodded
>by his nightstick (Duberman). Another account
>states that a lesbian, being brought to a patrol
>car through the crowd put up a struggle that
>encouraged the crowd to do the same (D’Emilio
>232). Whatever the case may be, mêlée broke out
>across the crowdwhich quickly overtook the
>police. Stunned, the police retreated into the
>bar. Heterosexual folk singer Dave van Ronk, who
>was walking through the area, was grabbed by the
>police, pulled into the bar, and beaten. The
>crowd’s attacks were unrelenting. Some tried to
>light the bar on fire. Others used a parking
>meter as a battering ram to force the police
>officers out. Word quickly spread of the riot
>and many residents, as well as patrons of nearby bars, rushed to the scene.
>
>Throughout the night the police singled out many
>transgender people and gender nonconformists,
>including butch women and effeminate men, among
>others, often beating them. On the first night
>alone 13 people were arrested and four police
>officers, as well as an undetermined number of
>protesters, were injured. It is known, however,
>that at least two rioters were severely beaten
>by the police (Duberman 201-202). Bottles and
>stones were thrown by protesters who chanted
>“Gay Power!” The crowd, estimated at over 2000,
>fought with over 400 police officers.
>
>The police sent additional forces in the form of
>the Tactical Patrol Force, a riot-control squad
>originally trained to counter Vietnam War
>protesters. The tactical patrol force arrived to
>disperse the crowd. However, they failed to
>break up the crowd, who sprayed them with rocks and other projectiles.
>
>Eventually the scene quieted, but the crowd
>returned again the next night. While less
>violent than the first night, the crowd had the
>same energy as it had on the previous night.
>Skirmishes between the rioters and the police
>ensued until approximately 4:00 a.m.. The third
>day of rioting fell five days after the raid on
>the Stonewall Inn. On that Wednesday, 1,000
>people congregated at the bar and again caused extensive property damage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots