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Revision as of 13:56, 24 April 2020 by Lilipo25 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Fred Sargeant (b. 1948) is an American gay rights activist. He is a veteran of the 1969 Stonewall riots and was a co-organizer of the first Gay Pride.
Sargeant is a retired lieutenant of the Stamford, Connecticut Police Department.
Early activism
Sargeant grew up in Connecticut and moved to New York City in his late teens, There, he met and began dating Craig Rodwell, owner and proprietor of the city's only gay bookstore, the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop in Greenwich Village. The bookstore was a gathering place for young gay activists, and soon Sargeant was an active member of the Homophile Youth Movement that sought equal rights for homosexuals in the United States. (1)
Stonewall riots
Shortly after midnight on June 28, 1969, Sargeant and Rodwell were returning from dinner at a friend's home and stopped to check on the bookshop, which was near the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar and club. They saw a crowd of about 75 people gathered outside the Inn and a police car in front, and were told the club had been raided. As police emerged from inside the Stonewall leading a customer, someone began throwing coins at the officers and others joined in, forcing the police to retreat back into the building as the raid turned into a riot. (1)
At dawn, Sargeant and Rodwell went back to their apartment and put together the first of many leaflets about the riot and gay rights that they then printed copies of in the bookshops. They distributed the copies around Greenwich Village. (1)
Gay pride
On the first anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, Sargeant and Rodwell, along with other members of the Gay Liberation Front, hosted the Christopher Street Liberation Day march, now considered the first NYC Pride March. (1)
Personal life
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