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STONEWALL Veterans' Association
25th Anniversary of the
1969 New York City
Gay Rebellion at The Stonewall Club
"Stonewall 25"
Sunday, 26 June
1994
Stonewall Veterans On-Stage with an Audience of over One Million People in Central Park, New York City
 Incredible backstage view of some Stonewall Veterans at "SW-25" [Photo by Rockwell O'Neill] Incredibly pictured standing in front of a crowd of over one a million people above (left-2-right) is firstly "The Stonewall Queen" Allyson Ann Allante (grandly statured in a muave sequinced gown and long blonde hair), the second is Rolando Ortiz (in tight white tee-shirt and tight blue jeans, well-built Puerto Rican originally from The Bronx and now up from Florida), the third person is S.V.A. Treasurer Terri Van Dyke (wearing yellow pants and carrying his/her ever-present huge shoulder bag), the S.V.A. Secretary Yvonne Ritter (with red hair up) is fourth, Danny Garvin (in tacky shorts unfit for this momentous occasion) is fifth, Christian the "Stonewall Dutch Boy" (in traditional Hollandaise garb) is sixth, John O'Brien (wearing dark blue shirt and slacks, in from Los Angeles) is seventh.... Also on stage but not shown in this photo are (alphabetically): Molly Aitken (down from Massachusetts)... Ruthybird Campbell... Bert Coffman... Storme DeLarverie (from Chelsea's Hotel Chelsea)... David Foxworth (up from Philadelphia)... Cristina Hayworth (up from Puerta Rica)... Williamson Henderson (down from his Upper West Side condominium)... Carl Keller (in from Connecticut)... Leigh McManus (in from Long Island)... Jeremiah Newton (up from Avenue "C" in the East Village)... Ronnie Nieves (Staten Island)... Electra O'Mara... John-Paul Ranieri (in from Wisconsin)... Sylvia Rivera (flew in on her broom fueled by alcohol)... Jack Rojas... Rusti Rose (in from Long Island)... Bill Salzman (Brooklyn)... Charles Snyder (Greewich Village)... Richard Strahan (in from South Shore, New Jersey)... Mary Twist (also New Jersey)... Ivana Valentin (up from the East Village)... Dave West (Midtown Manhattan)... et al..... The very well-organized STONEWALL Veterans' Association ("S.V.A."), which had just led the "Spirit of Stonewall March" with the blue 1969 Cadillac convertible "Stonewall Car" up from Greenwich Village, and, now, finally, after waiting over an hour, broadsided the very high and very wide stage. Only one-third of the SW-Vetz on stage are shown in this incredible photo. The approximate one million (1,000,000)-plus attendees from all over the world responded with a great, sound-breaking, five-minute chant of "Thank you... Thank you... Thank you... Thank you... Thank you..."! Every Stonewall Veteran -- except one -- was overcome with emotion, lightly crying with pride or just having a few tears of joy or sadness stream from their eyes. Queen Allyson Ann, the President of the Imperial QUEENS and the S.V.A. elected Spokesperson, was not having her professionally-done make-up ruined. Anxious to begin her speech, Allyson finally said to the huge millionish crowd (a la Barbra Streisand and invoking a Brooklyn accent): "Thank you from the STONEWALL Veterans' Association of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion! Thanks! Alright already... enough already. Ohh! Thank you! Already enough, thanks! Oy! We thank you, too -- for being here today on the 25th! Enough now!" What's a queen supposed to do already? "Thanx! (Convincing one million people to "Stop!" is not easy.) We love you, too!" However, the enthusiastic crowd continued their extraordinary chant: "Thank you... Thank you... Thank you... Thank you.... Thank you...." Highlights of the entire Stonewall 25 event, including the S.V.A. segment is/was available on the video, "The Future is Ours" -- a queerly inane title for the hugest Gay event in world history. Celebrities included openly-Gay actor/entertainer Harvey Fierstein who stated that none of us would be here today on this stage if not for the Stonewall Veterans. And, another Gay favorite, Liza Minnelli who reminded everyone that "It is the 25th anniversary of Stonewall.... and it is also the 25th Anniversary of Mama" -- referring to the Gay icon of Judy Garland, whose funeral was the first day of the rebellion that night June 27th. Coincidence? No! |
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2012
==43rd Anniversary of the Gay Stonewall Rebellion==
[Friday night, June 27 ~through~ Thursday evening, July 3, 1969]
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