In 1965 Drum magazine called it “the first sit-in of its kind in the history of the United States.” To honor the fiftieth anniversary of this major act of LGBT resistance, Marc Stein presented reports of the sit-in at Dewey’s restaurant in Center City, Philadelphia, which began on April 25, 1965. Staged by three teenagers, it protested discrimination against "homosexuals,” “masculine women,” “feminine men,” and “persons wearing non-conformist clothing.” First Published on OutHistory on April 20, 2015.
Primary Documents
Below is the Janus Society flier of April 1965, distributed after the arrests at Dewey’s.
The Janus Society Newsletter’s May 1965 report on the sit-ins and demonstrations
Drum magazine’s August 1965 report on the protests
Letter to the editor, published in Drum, November 1965, referring to denials of service at Dewey’s
