The Snake Pit : A Lost Chapter
A Dark Anniversary
Today is the anniversary of The Snake Pit, a little-known chapter in our journey toward LGBTQ liberation.
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The Snake Pit
New York City, March 7th, 1970.
Eight months after Stonewall, the police raid another nearby bar, the Snake Pit. 167 Queers are arrested. Among them is an Argentinian immigrant, 23-year-old Diego Viñales, visiting a Gay bar for the first time. Federal law does not allow known homosexuals to enter the U.S. He is so terrified of being deported that he jumps out of a second-story window at the police station. He impales himself on an iron fence. A section of the fence has to be cut out, and he is taken to the hospital in critical condition. Queers in custody gain access to a phone and utilize a phone tree to mobilize the community.
The Gay Activists Alliance and the Gay Liberation Front, new organizations formed after Stonewall, quickly assemble 500 people for a protest and a “death vigil.” The raid and protest make front-page news. The press is sympathetic. This demonstrates the strength of these new organizations and galvanizes more people, including future activists like Vito Russo, to become politically active. This contributes to the success of Christopher Street Liberation Day, the first Pride march, that June in 1970.
Diego Viñales survives and returns to Argentina. Not much else is known about him, but his vigil is one of the first “zaps,” fast, theatrical political direct actions that became crucial in the ’70s and later during the AIDS crisis.
Queer liberation is often described as an explosion that began at Stonewall. It did not. The movement has been a series of small victories and protests, intertwined with brutal violence and larger struggles such as immigration, racism, and police brutality.
Liberation is cumulative: 10 steps forward, 6 steps back.
Wow it seems that no matter how much I learn there's always more I didn't know about the fight.
Thank you so much for writing about this. Personally, I’d heard a little about this before but not with so much detail. Heartbreaking but so important. We need to keep saying their names, learning, and passing these stories down.