James didn’t want his photo taken that day for fear of losing his government job.
“He said something like, ‘I never thought I’d be doing this,’ and it was obvious he meant doing business with homosexuals,” said James, who now lives in an LGBT-friendly senior apartment building in Philadelphia. Still, the mood of the time was summed up by the comments an ice cream vendor made to him. James, now 74, said he was relieved when no one staged a counterprotest that day. While these weren’t the first public protests for gay rights, nor were very large when compared with demonstrations that came later, many LGBT activists say they are worthy of being celebrated as stepping stones to 1969’s Stonewall riots in New York City, a turning point in gay rights.
