The 1966 Compton's Cafeteria Riot

On a hot weekend night in August 1966 trans women fought back against police harassment at Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. Although the Compton’s riot didn’t spark a national movement the way Stonewall would three years later, it did have an effect, leading to the creation of support services for transgender people in San Francisco, and a reduction in police brutality against the trans community.

Joining me to discuss the riot, its causes, and its aftermath, is historian Dr. Susan Stryker, co-writer and co-director of the Emmy-winning 2005 documentary, Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria, and author of several books, including Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Image origin is unknown; it is used as the cover image of the documentary, and appears in many related news stories without attribution.

Additional sources:

• “At the Crossroads of Turk and Taylor: Resisting carceral power in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District,” by Susan Stryker, Places Journal, October 2021.
• “Compton's Cafeteria riot: a historic act of trans resistance, three years before Stonewall,” by Sam Levin, The Guardian, June 21, 2019.
• “Ladies In The Streets: Before Stonewall, Transgender Uprising Changed Lives,” by Nicole Pasulka, NPR Code Switch, May 5, 2015.
• “Don't Let History Forget About Compton's Cafeteria Riot,” by Neal Broverman, Advocate, August 2, 2018.
• “Compton's Cafeteria Riot,” by Andrea Borchert, Los Angeles Public Library, April 16, 2021.
• “How lost photos of a defining landmark in LGBTQ history were rediscovered on Facebook,” by Ryan Kost, San Francisco Chronicle, May 25, 2021.