The legislation creeped itself into safe-spaces for LGBTQ people, such as bars and clubs, sooner rather than later. Local police would do “sweeps” of neighborhoods, arresting and institutionalizing queer people who were found. Gay bars became a common place for these raids and altercations were soon just as common throughout the late 50s and 60s.

            In John Rechy’s novel, “City of Night,” he recounts the 1959 police raid of Cooper Donuts, a cafe located in downtown Los Angeles situated between two popular gay bars. This is known as one of the first LGBT uprisings in the country. It would begin a trend of bar raids turning into revolutionary battles as police were met with resistance by members of the community.

            Following incidents such as Copper Donuts, more infamous raids of bars occurred. The most well known of all happened in Greenwich Village outside of the Stonewall Inn in 1969.

            By 1969, police raids at the inn were so often that police had gained the nicknames Betty Badge or Lily Law. Even mild attempts at fighting back would lead to identities published in the papers and public outings after arrests.

In the early hours of the morning on June 28, 1969 a routine raid on the Stonewall Inn turned violent. What began as a group of club-goers quickly grew into a mob of angry protesters.

Drag queens, trans people, gay and lesbians and an assortment of other queer members of the Greenwich community, a popular LGBTQ spot, gathered to hurl whatever could be picked up at police officers on the street.

            The riot lasted for three days and resulted in four injured police officers and at least two severely beaten protesters. This night is considered the spark that ignited the modern gay rights movement. The next year, marches were set in June to commemorate the start of the movement and June is considered the month of Pride for the LGBTQ community.

            As queer culture shifted away from underground meeting places to fight back against oppression in public, the nightclub had to become a place for multiple uses. Zach Stafford, editor-in-chief of Grindr's magazine INTO, said in an Eater article earlier this year, "Because we didn’t have a lot of public spaces, people would use bars to do everything from meet a boyfriend or girlfriend to kind of think about the revolution."

            The introduction of E.O. 10450 shredded the sense of safety and security that had been built up within the anonymity of the city nightlife for gay bars, but the Stonewall Riots proved that gay bars had succeeded in their purposes and created a network of interlocked individuals. A community had been built, with the gay club as one of the focal points for meeting and socializing, and it became a rallying point from the late 60s’ to today.