A queer uprising 60 years before Stonewall: the 1905 Les Douaires riot

A Queer Uprising 60 Years Before Stonewall: The 1905 Les Douaires Riot

In the early 1900s, an increasing number of boys over 16 were sent to the youth detention center of Les Douaires in Normandy. Rumors circulated about frequent sexual interactions among the detained youth.

The 1969 Stonewall riot, a defining moment of LGBTQ+ resistance against a police raid, later became a cornerstone of the modern gay rights movement. Every year at the end of June, Pride events commemorate this uprising. Yet, Stonewall was not the first act of queer defiance.

Recent research published in the Journal of Homosexuality revealed that a queer rebellion had already taken place in 1905—more than six decades before Stonewall—at the Les Douaires youth detention site in France.

Queer Context in 19th-Century France

By the late 19th century, Paris fostered an underground queer network centered around bars and brothels. Same-sex relationships were found in male-only environments—such as the military or prisons—though they were socially condemned. At the same time, growing fears about queer sexuality emerged, as it began to be categorized as a medical disorder.

Life in French Youth Penal Colonies

Same-sex relations also became common in youth penal colonies, institutions that incarcerated working-class boys aged eight to 21, often for vagrancy or theft. The young detainees were compelled to perform hard agricultural and industrial labor, usually under extremely harsh conditions.

Among these institutions, Les Douaires stood out as a site for detained boys in Normandy, northern France. It later became a crucial site in the early history of queer resistance.

Author’s summary: The 1905 Les Douaires uprising in Normandy was an early moment of queer resistance, predating Stonewall by decades and exposing deep tensions within French penal institutions.

The Conversation — 2025-11-07