Any historical event as seminal as the Stonewall Riots is likely to be both controversial and misunderstood. In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary, The Stonewall Reader gathers documents—ranging from newspaper articles and interviews to essays and memoirs—that provide social and political context to aid in understanding the battle between police forces and protesters at the Stonewall Inn and its lengthy aftermath. Homophile leaders and street transvestites, political activists and passersby, writers and performers, hustlers and historians: voices blend into a kaleidoscope of perspectives. Individually, their memories and insights indicate how Stonewall happened. In combination, they provide a greater understanding of why those summer nights in 1969 resonate today.
The Stonewall Reader, edited by the New York Public Library, with an introduction by Edmund White. Published by Penguin Classics, where the in-house editor is Elda Rotor. The Stonewall Reader is a finalist for the Publishing Triangle’s Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction; the winner will be announced on April 30.