The Legible lesbian crimes

Citation:

Armstrong, E. A. (2006). Movements and Memory: The Making of the Stonewall Myth. American Sociological Review, 71.

Research Questions:

– The general research question addressed in the article is the reason why the stonewall riots became the leading cause of gay collective memory more than other activities. The article also provides a comparative or historical analysis of the four events and stonewall similar to the ones that occurred in the 1960s.

-The goal of the research question was to identify the prevailing circumstances contributing to commemoration and come up with specific explanations as to why the conditions as mentioned above or circumstances were more existent in Stonewall.

Theoretical Frameworks:

-The theoretical framework considers the comparative-historical assessment of Stonewall and the four events viewed as identical to it, which occurred in LA, New York, and San Francisco in the 1960s.

-These uprisings were commemorated since they were the first to satisfy certain conditions: the event was viewed as commemorable to activists and possessed the required capacity to generate a commemorative vehicle.

-These include Gay liberation, Commemorative form, Institutionalization of the parade, stonewall commemoration, sociological review of America, gay movement, and industrialization.

Data and Evidence:

-Data was collected on cities with a high LGTBQ+ concentration, such as San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles. The data is analyzed through a comparison of each event and city. Furthermore, the article discusses the commemorability assessments and mnemonic capacity levels in each instance. It reveals how they enabled the sponsorship of a commemorative vehicle in the case of Stonewall only. Additionally, the evidence shows that the prospect of institutionalization and resonance are vital aspects of commemorative success.

Methodologies:

-Most of the article’s analysis revolves around the collection of data on events. The authors examined the different events by analytically studying the primary and secondary sources which relate to homosexual movements.

-The secondary sources constitute historical books, articles written by journalists and other researchers who documented the history of gay people in the United States. On the other hand, primary materials or sources were obtained from mainstream and homosexual newspapers and were supplemented with documents in gay archives.

Main Arguments:

-The main argument is the assessments of commemorability and mnemonic capacity levels in each event and how they aided the sponsorship of a commemorative vehicle when it comes to Stonewall. The key takeaway is that developing awareness into commemorative attainment means focusing on the struggles to commemorate Stonewall.

Other Thoughts and Connections:

-Eventually, the parade’s success allowed the stonewall narrative to become basic knowledge among those in gay politics. Politically, the Stonewall remains valuable in gay politics. Nonetheless, it hinders scholarly explanations of the gay movement. The narrative hides the notion that the liberation of gays existed just before the Stonewall uprisings. This is key since gay liberation acted as a prerequisite for potential political acknowledgment of the situation at the Stonewall Inn.