(Greta Schiller & Robert Rosenberg, US, 1984, 87 mins)

** Newly restored for the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots! **

In 1969 the police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village, leading to three nights of rioting by the city’s gay community. With this outpouring of courage and unity the gay liberation movement had begun.
Before Stonewall pries open the closet door, setting free dramatic stories from the early 1900’s onwards of public and private existence as experienced by LGBT Americans. Revealing and, by turns, humorous and horrifying, this widely acclaimed film relives the emotional and political spark of today’s gay rights movement – the events that led to the fevered riots of 1969 have led in turn to many other milestones in the brave fight for acceptance. Experience the unforgettable, decade-by-decade history of homosexuality in America through eye-opening historical footage and amazing interviews with those who lived through an often brutal closeted history.

Narrated by iconic author Rita Mae Brown and featuring groundbreaking interviews with Ann Bannon, Martin Duberman, Allen Ginsberg, Barbara Gittings, Harry Hay, Mabel Hampton, Dr. Evelyn Hooker, Frank Kameny, Audre Lorde, Richard Bruce Nugent, José Sarria, and many more.

Description courtesy of distributor website: http://firstrunfeatures.com/beforestonewall.html