Former Argentinian student
Diego Viñales (born Alfredo Diego Viñales) was a former Argentinian student who was swept up in a police raid on the Snake Pit gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village in March 1970. The raid at the Stonewall Inn that had sparked rioting and gay activism had occurred the previous summer, but such raids were still common. Taken to the police station, Viñales, who was on an expired student visa and fearful of deportation, attempted to escape by jumping out a second-floor window. He landed on a spiked fence. Viñales suffered grave injuries but survived and was arrested. Protest marches in response to the day's events were led by gay activist groups formed in the wake of Stonewall and helped spark greater community awareness and interest in the upcoming Christopher Street Liberation Day events scheduled for 28 June to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
The Snake Pit raid.
Background.
The police raid at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich village had taken place nine months prior, on June 28, 1969. Although the bar patrons who fought back and the many who rioted and protested in the days following was something new, actions by the New York Police Department against gay bars did not stop with Stonewall and continued for months and years afterward. So when a police raid on the Snake Pit was conducted the following March, this was nothing unusual.
Raid and arrest.
In the pre-dawn hours of 8 March 1970, New York City Police raided the Snake Pit at 213 West 10th Street in Greenwich Village. Police said that the Snake Pit had been operating illegally after hours. One hundred sixty-seven people were taken into custody in the raid.
During the arrest, Viñales was one of the patrons held the longest inside, before being transferred to a police wagon. A friend noticed he was extremely frightened. Police at the bar were verbally abusive to employees asking about their rights.
Police station and attempted escape.
There was a chaotic situation at the Charles Street station, and police hurled abusive epithets at those under arrest. Police explained that ID would not be checked, and those present would not have to post bail, but Viñales didn't hear or didn't understand. Fearful of deportation for being a homosexual, he suddenly ran up a flight of stairs and attempted to jump out a second-floor window to the roof of an adjoining building, but missed, and landed on a spiked fence instead, provoking grave piercing injury by six spikes.
With the seriousness of the injury, the police could not simply remove him from the fence. Instead, the fire department was called, and a section of fence was cut out, Viñales was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital in critical condition, still attached to the fence. Surgeons operated on him, with fire department personnel asked to scrub in and assist.
Immediate reaction.
By that evening, 200 people had gathered in Sheridan Square to demonstrate against police repression of gays in Greenwich Village. Made up of members of the Gay Activists Alliance, a splinter group of the Gay Liberation Front, and of feminist organizations, they protested the arrest of the bar patrons. They headed towards the hospital, where they conducted a "death vigil". By late evening, the protesters had left the hospital area and were marching peaceably through the West Village.
The intense interest by news media in New York City in the Snake Pit raid and Viñales' injuries was the most of any event relating to homosexual issues since the raid on the Stonewall Inn and was a consequence of the increased activism of the gay community in New York following Stonewall. The Daily News, a tabloid and New York's top-selling daily newspaper, published a front-page photo the next day of Viñales with the caption "Spiked on Iron Fence".
Aftermath.
The gay community had already seen a surge in organizing activity following the events at the Stonewall Inn the previous summer. The protest march following the Snake Pit raid played a role in galvanizing interest even further among the community in time for the upcoming Christopher Street Liberation Day events already planned for 28 June. This event, scheduled to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots was the first Pride march celebration in the United States.
There were political repercussions as well. Democratic Congressman Ed Koch, the future mayor of New York City, accused New York City Police Commissioner Howard R. Leary of approving raids and arrests against the gay community.
References.
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