An uprising by transgender and gay street youth at Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco’s impoverished Tenderloin neighborhood is thought to be the earliest militant expression of queer resistance by any age group to police harassment and societal oppression. The incident led to new social services for transgender individuals in San Francisco and inspired the transgender rights movement of the following decades.
The youth uprising at Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco’s
While the established homophile organizations had succeeded in reducing police harassment of gay bar patrons and had made inroads into the city’s political establishment, disadvantaged queer youth were largely left out of the picture, since they were too young to frequent the bars and because members of the adult-focused organizations were worried that they would be charged with corrupting minors.
In the mid-1960’s, ministers from Glide, homophile leaders, and neighborhood activists came together to form the Central City Citizen’s Council, which succeeded in obtaining federal poverty program funds. Some of this money went toward providing services for the burgeoning population of gay, lesbian, and transgender youth—many of them runaways and hustlers—who called the streets of the Tenderloin district home. In the summer of 1966, with McIlvenna’s help, local queer youth formed their own organization, Vanguard,
Compton’s Cafeteria (part of a small local chain), located at the corner of Taylor and Turk Streets, was a popular all-night gathering place for the Tenderloin’s queer youth, including transgender
One warm night in August—the exact date remains unclear—Compton’s Cafeteria erupted in chaos. The incident was never well documented, and details remain scarce. According to available accounts, a police officer, late at night, tried to grab one of the young drag queens. Rather than tolerating the affront, the youth threw a cup of coffee in the officer’s face. Mayhem ensued as the enraged young queers threw dishes at the police and guards, broke the cafeteria’s windows, and burned down a nearby newspaper stand. The management closed the diner, and as the youth exited, police tried to grab them. This led to a general melee, with street kids hitting cops in the groin and drag queens pummeling them with their purses. The next day, Compton’s banned drag queens from the establishment. That night, the queer youth—reportedly joined this time by some older, more conservative gays—set up a picket line outside the diner, and the establishment’s newly repaired front window was once again smashed.
Although New York City’s 1969 Stonewall Rebellion,
Other early protests against police intimidation followed a crackdown on bars and cruising spots in the Los Angeles area beginning in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day in 1967. Protests included a demonstration at a police station during which protesters “pelted” the cops with flowers. It was not until Stonewall, however, that gay, lesbian, and transgender demands entered public consciousness and the LGBT liberation movement took hold in a sustained manner.
The Compton’s Cafeteria uprising can be regarded as the first glimmer of an incipient transgender movement
Also around this time, street queens became aware of advances in the care of transsexuals,
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the focus was on helping transsexuals permanently transition and embark upon a new life as heterosexual and traditionally feminine or masculine members of their new gender. It was not until the 1990’s that transgender activists began to demand their inclusion within the gay and lesbian community and to demand their right to occupy all positions on the gender spectrum.
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Anonymous. “History of Christopher Street West, San Francisco.” In the San Francisco Gay Pride program book. June 25, 1972. -
Anonymous. “Young Homos Picket Compton’s Restaurant.” Cruise News & World Report 2, no. 8 (August, 1966). -
Carter, David. Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004. -
Feinberg, Leslie. “California Resistance Predated Stonewall Rebellion.” http://www.workers .org/2006/us/lavender-red-62/. -
Gay and Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California. “MTF Transgender Activism in the Tenderloin and Beyond, 1966-1975: A Commentary and Interview with Elliot Blackstone.” GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 4, no. 2 (1998): 349-372. -
Hernandez-Bolden-Kramer Productions. Queer Geography: Mapping Our Identities, Detailing the Experiences of Four Queer Youth. Video recording. A project of the Mission High School Health Science Academy. San Francisco, Calif.: Frameline, 2001. -
Huegel, Kelly. GLBTQ: The Survival Guide for Queer and Questioning Teens. Minneapolis, Minn.: Free Spirit, 2003. -
“The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria: Coming Soon to a Theater near You!” Transgender Tapestry no. 105 (Spring, 2004). -
Silverman, Victor, and Susan Stryker, producers. Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria. Documentary. San Francisco, Calif.: Frameline, 2005.
June 27-July 2, 1969: Stonewall Rebellion Ignites Modern Gay and Lesbian Rights Movement
July 31, 1969: Gay Liberation Front Is Formed
October 12-15, 1979: First March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights
1982: Lesbian and Gay Youth Protection Institute Is Founded
March, 1987: Radical AIDS Activist Group ACT UP Is Founded
May, 1988: Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center Opens
December 10, 1989: ACT UP Protests at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
March 20, 1990: Queer Nation Is Founded
April 24, 1993: First Dyke March Is Held in Washington, D.C.