By Daniel Batalla

Daily Titan Columnist

The club was packed, the music was thumping, drag queens were handing out reasonably-priced Jell-O shots and the belly dancer had taken the stage.

This year, rather than celebrate my birthday by frivolously throwing my money away on yet another night of scantily-clad men, I chose to round up a group of friends and attend a fund raiser for the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

Club Ripples in Long Beach was hosting the event in hopes of raising money to support the foundation whose goal is to “replace hate with understanding, compassion and acceptance.”

Eleven years after the brutal attack of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo., I still think about the boy who unintentionally became the spokesperson for hate crimes all over the world.

On this particular night, I felt like my small contribution to the club would help the cause.

I often take for granted that just 40 years ago there wouldn’t be a place for me to celebrate my birthday with gay friends.

It’s because of the many people who fought for gay rights early on that I can now share a mixed drink with other gays without fear of persecution.

The Stonewall Riots, among other events, helped in the battle against discrimination.

The Stonewall Riots were the first widely-known instance of the gay community fighting back against the government’s discrimination of sexual orientation.

Because of regular police raids at gay establishments during the late ’60s there were very few bars that served openly gay men.

In many instances a bar could not serve more than three gay men at a time.

The Stonewall Inn, located on Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village in New York, was owned by mobsters who wanted to profit off the fact that gay men had no other bars in the area that catered to homosexuals.

The mobsters bribed law enforcement to avoid the frequent raids.

Sadly, the Inn did not accommodate the gay community because it felt an injustice, but rather because it could water down the drinks, charge outrageous prices and treat its patrons poorly.

The Stonewall Inn had become the only bar in New York to offer dancing to its gay customers.

On June 27, 1969 undercover officers made their way into the bar. Once inside they called for backup and yet another raid commenced.

This one however, would have a much different outcome than in past occurrences.

As police lined up the “street kids” and poor gay youth, female cops were sent into back rooms to check the gender of anyone dressed as a woman.

As the raid continued more and more people gathered outside the Stonewall Inn.

By the time police had started to handcuff the Stonewall’s clientele, the number of bystanders outside had grown significantly.

While a “stone butch” dyke was being hauled away by police she screamed to onlookers, “Why don’t you guys do something?”

It was then that the crowd erupted and began fighting back.

Garbage cans, bricks and bottles were hurled at the building.

As the riots continued one man chose to drastically take matters into his own hands and set the bar on fire.

Never before had so much attention been drawn to the injustice against the gay community.

The following year Christopher Street Liberation Day was observed as the first Gay Pride March in U.S. History.

To this day most Gay Pride Parades are celebrated the last week of June to commemorate those who helped fight the battle that would later allow me the simple enjoyment of having a cocktail with my gay friends without fear of discrimination or harassment.

Gay rights groups had been established in many major cities across America, just a few years following the Stonewall Riot.

Today there are thousands of gay rights organizations located all over the world helping break down the walls of injustice. It’s up to our generation to continue the fight against discrimination.

It’s time we stand up, speak out and have a drink while we’re at it … for Stonewall!