Stonewall 50

On June 10th (which would have been Judy Garland's 97th birthday!) Ashlee and I visited The Stonewall Inn. We sat in the bar, out of the torrential rain, and did not feel unwelcome or awkward, as we had at the last bar we were at back in 2014. Not being much of a drinker, I explained this to the cute lil' Asian twink bartender and added, "can we just get somethin' fruity and yummy? Oh, and go easy on the booze, cuz I'm old and I don't wanna leave here, fall in the downpour and break a hip." He served us up a couple glasses of Sex on the Beach, which I have wanted to try since back in high school when it seemed like the funniest thing in the world to order that drink (clearly I was super immature). We toasted to "Donna, our favourite lesbian" and took a sip. Delish! We chatted, bought t-shirts, and relaxed for a bit before heading back out into the gloom. The bar is small but charming, and every single person working there was super nice and friendly. I was seriously disappointed that they had the ability to play an old film (silently, with subtitles, which meant people could hold conversations) but put on Neptune's Daughter. What the hell?! Clearly this place was being run by some young whippersnappers. If we had some old queens runnin' the joint that day, you can bet your sweet bippy that they'd have been playing all Judy, all day. Some In the Good Old Summertime, The Pirate with hot young Gene Kelly, and of course some Wizard of Oz. What a missed opportunity. But regardless it was a wonderful experience and I'm glad I got to visit the place where the LGBTQ+ movement found it's beginnings. As an ally to the community since I was a teenager, it felt good to celebrate Donna's memory in such a historical place.

(Sex on the Beach photo by Ashlee)

(This is my pin that I bought about 18 years ago in a little shop near South Street in Philly. Sadly, they didn't make a Stonewall 50 pin...)