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Compton's Cafeteria riot
Since 1966
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 by three years.
Why it's on the map
It was common for the police to come into Compton's, arrest people for the crime of "female impersonation." For over fifty years drag queens were abused by the San Francisco police department, often arrested them for sex work and for violating the city's cross dressing law (which was repealed in 1974).
According to Susan Stryker, Compton's Cafeteria riot was "the first known incident of collective militant queer resistance to police harassment in U.S. history." Transgender people finally stood up to the abuse and discrimination by police officers.
Serving as an overseer to the NTCU was Sergeant Elliott Blackstone, designated in 1962 as the first San Francisco Police Department liaison to what was then called the "homophile community".
On January 27, 2025, the building located at the site of the Compton's Cafeteria Riot was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Source: Wikipedia / Wikidata
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