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Jorg Wenz, who was working as a doorman at the Ramrod, died later that day at St. Killed instantly was Vernon Kroening, an organist at the nearby St. Then he moved onto the Ramrod Bar at 394-395 West Street between 10th and Christopher, two blocks away, where he emptied his Uzi’s extended, 40-round magazine into the crowd. They avoided getting shot by ducking behind parked cars. Using two stolen handguns, Crumpley opened fire on two men outside a deli on the corner of Washington and 10th Streets. Crumpley indiscriminately targeted the gay men in Greenwich Village on November 19, 1980. The newly ascendant Moral Majority, which railed ferociously against gay rights and sexual activity outside of marriage, and for traditional gender roles, for the first time had a direct conduit to the White House and hoped to bring “family values” back to America.įor many, these fears were realized when former NYC Transit Authority cop Ronald K. Republicans took back control of the Senate for the first time in 28 years, and while Democrats maintained control of the House, they lost 34 seats. Ronald Reagan was just elected President on promises to put Americans back to work, rebuild America’s standing in the world, and restore a traditional ‘morality’ in the country. Image via NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project. The Ramrod was one of New York’s most popular leather bars from 1973 (or 1976 depending on source) to when it closed in 1980 following the shooting.įollowing the election of 1980, many were fearful that a conservative backlash would lead to discrimination against minorities. Happier times in front of the Ramrod, from the Village People’s “YMCA” video. Two men were killed and six were wounded in this hate- and cocaine-fueled rampage that targeted and shocked the gay community. In fact, they date to November 1980, and were written by activist and journalist Andy Humm following the mass shooting at the Ramrod bar on West Street in Greenwich Village on November 19, 1980. One might assume these words were written in light of recent events. “ For all of us who were worried that the conservative backlash in this country would bring about unnamed terrible things, the future is now.”