 By this time, Brown had taken an apartment in Greenwich Village just a few blocks from the Stonewall Inn, and he witnessed the beginnings of the gay rights movement.As gay service organizations and gay churches rose in number, Brown lost his sense of shame about being gay and became increasingly angry about the routine insults directed at men like him.To show that even members of a profession regarded as a citadel of respectability could be homosexuals, Brown decided to make a public announcement about his sexuality.