Matty Dean, Frederick Weller, a young gay man, arrives in New York City and heads for Greenwich Village. He quickly falls in with crossdressing sex workers and their guide La Miranda, Guillermo Díaz, who take him to the Stonewall Inn. A police raid erupts, and Matty and La Miranda are arrested. They are bailed out by Bostonia, Duane Boutte, the African-American “mother” of the queens who hang out at Stonewall, and the secret lover of Vinnie, Bruce MacVittie, who runs Stonewall. Matty and La Miranda return to her place, where she receives her draft notice, and the night air of New York buzzes with the possibility and danger of living openly.
Later, Matty attends a Mattachine Society meeting, where he meets Burt, Peter Ratray, and Ethan, Brendan Corbalis. The group is planning a picket at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to protest discriminatory laws. Matty witnesses a ceremony as José becomes the persona Camelia, with Vince Cupone stepping into the role. After the ceremony, they return to La Miranda’s place and share an intimate moment. The day-to-day tensions of living with a hidden identity and the pressure to conform start to weigh on him.
Back in the city, La Miranda reports to the induction center in full drag and is ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation. Fearful due to past abuse by psychiatrists, La Miranda’s nerves push Matty to stand in for her, meeting with the doctor in her place and securing a rejection from military service for her as a “sexual deviant.” On the subway ride home, La Miranda reveals she’s never had a hero before, and asks if Matty loves her—he admits that it’s his turn to be scared.
At a Mattachine meeting, Matty grows uneasy as a guest speaker, a psychiatrist, describes homosexuality through the disease model and leaves the room. Afterward, Burt, Ethan and Matty argue on their way to meet a reporter and photographer from the Village Voice. The group stages a sip-in, aiming to challenge discriminatory alcohol service laws by being refused service; when they finally reach the Stonewall, La Miranda and Ethan cross paths with contempt, and La Miranda realizes Matty hasn’t told his Mattachine friends about her. They clash, and Matty and Ethan begin an affair.
Vinnie, the deeply closeted mafioso who runs Stonewall, introduces Bostonia to a controversial idea: sex reassignment surgery, which he calls the “Palace of Dreams.” Bostonia resists the notion, unsure of what such a change would mean for her life and choices. After the Philadelphia picket, Ethan takes Matty to Fire Island, offering a contrast between Ethan’s acceptance of discrimination and La Miranda’s defiance. Matty chooses La Miranda, and they reconcile, finding some peace in their bond despite the world around them.
It is Judy Garland’s death day. Bostonia watches the television coverage with a heavy heart. To lift her spirits, Vinnie takes her out in full drag in public for the first time, and the couple shares a moment of open affection that draws disapproval from strangers and managers alike. The next morning, Vinnie asks if he has ever told Bostonia that he loves her; she says no. He then commits suicide with a single gunshot, leaving her a large sum of cash and scrawling “I LOVE YOU” on a mirror in lipstick.
That night at Stonewall, another raid erupts. Several of the queens are arrested, including Bostonia, who smashes a police officer in the face and is attacked by others. The confrontation ignites a chorus of resistance as more queens fight back, sparking the riots that would come to symbolize the gay community’s militant push for equal rights.
> I LOVE YOU
