In 1969, it was illegal to “engage in homosexual acts” in every state except Illinois. Fed up, a group of gay patrons at the Stonewall Inn, in New York’s Greenwich Village, fought back against police who were trying to arrest them. It was a pivotal moment in the gay rights movement. That same summer, nineteen-year-old Anthony Friedkin, already an accomplished photographer for the Magnum agency, was yearning for a meaningful project. Friedkin, who is not gay, decided to immerse himself in the LGBT cultures of San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“I spent like almost two years shooting, and I covered everything, from gay prostitutes to gay liberationists, to gay parades and two lesbian women playing football, to gay couples to gay parties to drag queen clubs. It was incredible,” Friedkin told Timeline producer Anson Ling.
The documentary photography project became known as The Gay Essay.
