The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot and the Legacy of Police Violence

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Three years before the Stonewall uprising in New York, the August 1966 riot at Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district occurred when drag queens and transgender women fought back against police harassment. A watershed moment in LGBTQ history that was almost forgotten, the riot was rediscovered by researchers in the GLBT Historical Society’s archives decades later.

This event, co-presented with the Tenderloin Museum, will commemorate the riot with a screening of Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman’s 2005 documentary “Screaming Queens.” The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring historians, activists and Compton’s veterans who will reflect on the history of this uprising in light of the ongoing problem of police violence and consider how communities can mobilize in response. The event will also include discussion of the play “The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot,” a 2018 theater piece commissioned by the Tenderloin Museum.

SPEAKERS
A full list of speakers will be available soon.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE
This event will take place online. After you register, you will receive a confirmation email with a link and instructions on how to join the Zoom webinar as an attendee. The event will also be livestreamed on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GLBTHistory/ and then archived on our YouTube page at https://bit.ly/2UyGVbG.

ADMISSION
Free | Suggested donation of $5.00
Register online here: https://bit.ly/3gCedyX
The event is limited to 500 attendees.

ASL INTERPRETATION
ASL interpretation provided upon request. Please write at least three days in advance of event to leigh@glbthistory.org.

JOIN THE GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Become a member of the GLBT Historical Society for free museum and program admission, discounts in the museum shop and other perks: www.glbthistory.org/memberships

Image credit: Inside Gene Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, ca. 1966; photo by Henri Leleu, Henri Leleu Papers (1997-13), GLBT Historical Society.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.