There Was Life Before Stonewall

History professor Vern Bullough tells of the pioneers of the gay rights movement in this History News Network article. It seems the general "F- You" attitude dates back far before a few pissed-off drag queens at Stonewall:

A few individuals with power and influence were sometimes willing to be more open, such as the Boston Bohemian blue blood, Prescott Townsend, who as early as the 1920's agitated against the Massachusetts antisodomy laws and was a moving force in the theater movement in Provincetown. He was even arrested for engaging in sodomy, a fact which he reported in his Harvard class report for that year. He supposedly told the judge when asked to speak for himself, that there was nothing wrong "with a little cock sucking on the Hill."

I'd be interested if anyone has read his book, "Before Stonewall."