n a bright, warm day 50 years ago this week, three young men went out to have a drink that they hoped would make history.
The men, members of the early gay rights group the Mattachine Society, aimed to challenge bars that refused service to gay people, a common practice at the time, though one unsupported by any specific law. Such refusals fell under a vague regulation that banned taverns from serving patrons deemed “disorderly.”
Read more in The New York Times.