Compton's Cafeteria riot

Compton's Cafeteria riot
Compton's Cafeteria riot
Part of events leading to the; gay liberation movement
	Gene Compton's Cafeteria Riot 40th anniversary historical marker at corner of Taylor and Turk in San Francisco
Date	August 1966; 58 years ago
Location	Tenderloin, San Francisco, U.S.
Parties
SFPD	Transgender rioters

The Compton's Cafeteria riot occurred in August 1966 in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. The riot was a response to the violent and constant police harassment of trans people, particularly trans women, and drag queens. The incident was one of the first LGBTQ-related riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.^{[note 1]} It marked the beginning of transgender activism in San Francisco.^[1]

The 1960s was a pivotal period for sexual, gender, and ethnic minorities, as social movements championing civil rights and sexual liberation came to fruition. Additionally, the 1950s created the foundation for the trans rights and gay liberation movements with the earlier Homophile movement.^[2]^[3] Though Stonewall is often heralded as the beginning of the trans rights movement, the importance of Compton's Cafeteria Riots and the homophile movement that came first. Social groups helped mobilize and even churches, like Glide Memorial Methodist Church in San Francisco, began reaching out to the transgender community.^[4] Nevertheless, many police officers resisted these movements and the increasing visibility of these groups, continuing to harass and abuse transgender people. This simultaneous rise in support for transgender rights on the one side and the unwillingness to accept these new ideas on the other created the strain that fueled the riot at Compton's Cafeteria in the summer of 1966. The incident began when a transgender woman resisted arrest by throwing coffee at a police officer. It was followed by drag queens and transgender women pouring into the streets, fighting back with their high heels and heavy bags.^[5]

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

^ Boyd, Nan Alamilla (2004). "San Francisco" in the Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered History in America, Ed. Marc Stein. Vol. 3. Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 71–78.
^ Silverman, Victor, and Susan Stryker. Screaming Queens: Riot in Compton's Cafeteria (2005).
^ Rupp, Leila J., Verta Taylor, and Benita Roth. "Women in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Movement." The Oxford Handbook of US Women's Social Movement Activism. New York: Oxford, 2017.
^ Pierceson, Jason (November 11, 2019). LGBTQ Americans in the U.S. Political System: An Encyclopedia of Activists, Voters, Candidates, and Officeholders [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-5277-0.
^ Stryker, Susan (2008). Transgender History. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. ISBN 9781580056892.

[boyd-2] Boyd, Nan Alamilla (2004). "San Francisco" in the Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered History in America, Ed. Marc Stein. Vol. 3. Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 71–78.

[:5-3] Silverman, Victor, and Susan Stryker. Screaming Queens: Riot in Compton's Cafeteria (2005).

[4] Rupp, Leila J., Verta Taylor, and Benita Roth. "Women in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Movement." The Oxford Handbook of US Women's Social Movement Activism. New York: Oxford, 2017.

[5] Pierceson, Jason (November 11, 2019). LGBTQ Americans in the U.S. Political System: An Encyclopedia of Activists, Voters, Candidates, and Officeholders [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-4408-5277-0.

[Stryker,_Susan_2008-6] Stryker, Susan (2008). Transgender History. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. ISBN 9781580056892.

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