In August 1966 trans women, drag queens, hustlers, and homeless queer youth rioted against police oppression at Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco’s impoverished Tenderloin neighborhood. Screaming Queens is the Emmy-winning 2005 film by Victor Silverman and Susan Stryker that first brought this little-remembered act of resistance to public awareness. The film has been instrumental in fostering the historical memory of this important event, which took place three years before the more famous uprising at New York’s Stonewall Inn that is usually credited with launching the modern LGBTQ movement.
The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria
