By focusing this lens on the actions of the Mattachine Society and, more generally, on the east coast homophile organizations, this paper identifies a protracted development from mobilization in the early 1950s, through “assimilationism,” and eventually to “liberation” in the early 1970s. First, I use a new methodological lens (Social Movement Theory) to reexamine the historical narrative of the gay rights movement. This piece contributes to the existing historiography in three ways. At his second inaugural address in January of 2013, President Barack Obama reinforced the primacy of Stonewall by associating it with other milestone events in the ongoing struggle for social equality, "We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths-that all of us are created equal-is the star that guides us still just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall." Although the Riots were an undoubtedly significant moment in the history of the movement, the emphasis placed upon them obscures a more nuanced transition between the conservative principles and tactics employed by the homophiles in the 1950s and 60s and the outspoken and confrontational activism of the gay liberationists who appeared in the 1970s. The popular narrative of the gay rights movement in the United States has often unfairly emphasized the importance of the Stonewall Riots.
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