The Sip-In at Julius'

On April 21, 1966, members of the Mattachine Society, led by Dick Leitsch, Craig Rodwell and John Timmons, walked into Julius' at 159 West 10th Street, said they were homosexual, and asked to be served. At the time the State Liquor Authority treated gay customers as "disorderly," and a bar could lose its license for serving them. The men had tried other places that day, and at some they were simply poured a drink. At Julius', the bartender began to make one and then put his hand over the glass. A photographer caught the moment. That refusal gave the activists the test case they wanted, and the courts later found that gay people had the right to gather peacefully in licensed bars. The Sip-In came three years before the Stonewall uprising, a block away. Julius' is often called the oldest gay bar in New York. It was listed on the National Register in 2016 and designated a city landmark in 2022.