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On This Gay Day… is going to be a regular feature in my blog, where I’ll highlight some amazing, critical, pivotal moments in the history of the GLBTQ population. And today is a special one; what better way to start things off, right?

First, some information you probably never realized: as of April 21, 1966, in New York, bars and restaurants were not allowed to serve liquor to the disorderly; at that time, homosexuals were considered disorderly. It was a rule that the New York Liquor Authority set in place, and that bar owners happily enforced. Known homosexuals were often evicted from bars, or not allowed to face each other, to prevent cruising.

On this date, in 1966, members of the Mattachine Society – a group of homosexual men, formed in 1950, to establish themselves as a cultural minority – decided they would engage in a Sip-In at different bars in New York City. Their plan was to force bartenders to serve them, as if they were any other civilized individual. They believed there was no merit in the Liquor Authority’s claim that they were disorderly, and if they could not be served alcohol like everyone else, they would challenge it. Here is the story:

Three men from the New York Mattachine Society, Dick Leitsch (their president), John Timmons, and Craig Rodwell, wrote the following on Mattachine stationery: “We are homosexuals. We are orderly, we intend to remain orderly, and we are asking for service.”

The first establishment they planned to enter was a Ukrainian-American Village Restaurant at St. Mark’s Place and Third Avenue in the East Village, where a sign was hung in the window: “If you are gay, please go away.” Unfortunately, a New York Times reporter tipped off the manager, who then closed the restaurant for the remainder of the day, to prevent controversy.

Next, accompanied by Randy Wicker (the secretary of the group), they went to a Howard Johnson’s, followed by a bar called Waikiki. In spite of the note, they were served at both locations. In his defense, one of the managers laughed and noted that the men were served because “they ain’t doing nothing homosexual.”

When they landed at Julius, a mixed bar in Greenwich Village, they knew they would have their challenge, as a clergyman had been arrested there a few days earlier for soliciting sex. A sign in the window read, “This is a raided premises,” which meant they could not be served.

The four men entered Julius, and asked for a drink. As the bartender started preparing it, Leitsch read his statement, and the bartender immediately covered the glass with his hand. This was captured in the above photo, which was published in the Village Voice the next day. After the New York Times covered it, the New York Commission on Human Rights declared that homosexuals did, in fact, have a right to be served. Courts ruled that homosexuals had the right to peacefully assemble, and – arguably – the modern-day gay bar was born soon thereafter.

About 11 months later, about one block southwest of Julius, also in Greenwich Village, The Stonewall opened its doors, and quickly became the largest gay establishment of its time in the United States. Two years later, through a barrage of violence and noise that pierced the summer night sky, it would give birth to the gay rights movement that is still ongoing today.