June 24, 2011: Hundreds of New Yorkers gather in downtown Manhattan outside of the Stonewall Inn, the site of the 1969 Stonewall riots that played a big part in the formation of the gay rights movement in the U.S. The crowd was celebrating after the New York State Senate passed a marriage equality bill, paving the way for same-sex marriage to be legalized in the state. Josh Marshall for Talkingpointsmemo.com.

When I was 14 I thought everyone was straight. So when I heard that Andy Warhol was gay, I freaked out. I mean, how did that happen? The teacher never mentioned it in my high school art class. But when I heard that Cy Twombly was also gay, I freaked out a little less. Then I heard Edward Albee was gay. OMFG! Then I heard a whole lot of artists and writers I liked were gay — Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Frank O’Hara, Tennessee Williams, Annie Leibovitz, Rimbaud & Verlaine, John Cage, and even Michel Foucault for god’s sake! They were all GAY! GAY! GAY! But like Andy Warhol used to say, “So what?”

See more Stonewall photos by my favorite blogger, Josh Marshall, here.