Stonewall gets a lot of attention in queer history. There is good reason for that. Without a doubt, the rioting that took place at the Stonewall Inn in 1969 played a central role in forming the queer militancy of the early 1970s known as the gay liberation movement. One need not look further than the title of historian David Carter’s book on the riots – Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution – to grasp the idea that these riots were pretty important. Stonewall occupies a central place in queer memory and the LGBT historical narrative because, well, it was a BFD. That being said, queer history is more nuanced and complex than the standard narrative tends to suggest. In remembering Stonewall as the first time queers fought back against the police, we forget about prior examples of queer resistance against harassment that may not have been as widely reported but were nevertheless very important. While Stonewall was demonstrably more well-known and therefore galvanized many more youth toward militant activism, queer resistance was happening long before Christopher Street erupted into violence in 1969.
I’d like to talk about three vastly underreported, largely unknown pre-Stonewall incidents that took place from 1959 to 1966: the Cooper’s Donuts riot in Los Angeles, the Dewey’s sit-in in Philadelphia, and the Compton’s Cafeteria riot in San Francisco. It is no coincidence that I’m writing about these three incidents on the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR). Trans people played central roles in all three of these incidents, and it is part of their history that is lost when these events do not receive attention. rserven has breathtakingly memorialized transgender victims of violence (the stated purpose of TDOR), and I encourage you to read her diary. For my part, I’d like to talk about early transgender agency on this day of remembrance.
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[Note: Researching these three incidents was quite difficult, as very little documentation exists beyond scant Wikipedia articles. Much of the information below comes from Transgender History, written by historian Susan Stryker. The section on the Compton’s Cafeteria riot also relies on Stryker’s 2005 documentary Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, which told the full story of the riot for the first time.]
If it was hard to be gay in 1959 (and it was), it was even harder to be transgender. With cross-dressing laws in effect and vigorously enforced in major urban areas across the country, trans people didn’t have to cause a “disturbance” to be arrested – they could be arrested just for being in public. Police harassment against transgender people, who were often forced into prostitution because of their difficulty in finding employment (opening them up to high risk of violence), was pervasive and brutal. It was a part of life for trans people.
But in May of 1959, the drag queens, transgender people, and street hustlers who hung out at Cooper’s Donuts in Los Angeles decided they would not acquiesce to harassment and oppression anymore. Police would often stop by the establishment, well known for its gender-variant patrons, and demand identification (which obviously presented a problem for transgender people in the year 1959). But on this particular night, the police overstepped the line. When officers started making arrests, the customers of Cooper’s Donuts rose up against the police. Patrons through donuts at the officers, who retreated into the street and called for backup. The violence continued outside the donut shop as drag queens and trans people sent their message that police harassment would no longer be tolerated.
Historian Susan Stryker calls the Cooper’s Donuts incident “a spontaneous outburst of frustration, with no lasting consequences.” As reluctant as I am to say that any incident like this had “no lasting consequences,” that is sadly the case. It was not until the 1960s that transgender resistance would result in any kind of meaningful societal impact. Sixties trans action did not occur in a vacuum. It took place within the context of the Civil Rights Movement and, perhaps even more importantly, an emerging transsexual identity that allowed transgender people to put a name to what they felt inside.
The influence of the Civil Rights Movement was especially stark in the case of the 1965 sit-in at Dewey’s, a Philadelphia restaurant. Dewey’s implemented a policy in 1965 barring any display of gender-variance – namely, “nonconformist clothing” – because, they claimed, the presence of such people was driving away business. Many individuals (and not just drag queens and transgender people) participated in a protest against the restaurant by wearing “nonconformist clothing” and demanding service. On April 25, 1965, a stunning 150 people were refused service by Dewey’s staff. Some of those turned away refused to leave, resulting in arrests. Susan Stryker notes that this sit-in was “the first act of civil disobedience over antitransgender discrimination.” Philadelphia’s queer community did not let up, and in May the action resulted in a concrete victory: Dewey’s promised to cease discrimination against gender-nonconforming people.
Thanks to Susan Stryker (whom I am frequently quoting in this diary) and her documentary Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria, the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria has seeped into LGBT historical consciousness. But until 2005, it was an undocumented, vastly unknown event. Today, to a large extent, it still is, as many people don’t even know what happened at Stonewall, much less Compton’s Cafeteria. Below is the opening of Screaming Queens, which vividly tells the story of what happened that fateful night in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.
The situation for transgender people in the Tenderloin district in 1966 was markedly similar to the situation for transgender people in Los Angeles in 1959. Cross-dressing laws were ruthlessly enforced. Transwomen sold themselves on the street just to survive and etch out a meager existence in what was known as a gay ghetto. To make matters even worse, the neighborhoods around the Tenderloin were being demolished due to city redevelopment plans, driving countless people into the Tenderloin for affordable housing and forcing transgender people into the streets.
Gene Compton’s Cafeteria was a sanctuary for drag queens, transgender people, and hustlers who had nowhere else to go in the Tenderloin. It also served as a meeting place for politically mobilized drag queens and trans people who joined groups like Vanguard. Compton’s management was none too receptive to this queer clientele, who would often sit for hours in the establishment. One night, Compton’s staff called the police. Neither Compton’s management nor the police, it can safely be said, were ready for what ensued.
When an officer approached a transwoman and attempted to intimidate her, she picked up her cup of coffee and threw it in his face. Patrons then rose up and started throwing everything they could get their hands on, from silverware to sugar shakers. Windows were broken. Police were beaten with oversized handbags. When the officers retreated outdoors and called for backup, the violence moved to the street.
In many ways, it was much like the Cooper’s Donuts riot. But the Compton’s Cafeteria riot sent an even stronger message – a message that the police received loud and clear. After the riot, transgender people felt freer to live their lives openly, as police harassment was curbed. The city responded to a growing transgender voice by establishing the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, the first such organization in the world, which was overseen by San Francisco police officer and unexpected LGBT ally Elliot Blackstone. While the progress was in many ways primitive by today’s standards, it was important progress nevertheless – progress that likely wouldn’t have been achieved as early without collective queer resistance.
On this Transgender Day of Remembrance, when we remember the many, many victims of anti-transgender violence, we might also do well to remember the central role transgender people played resisting oppression in the early days of the LGBT movement, long before the "hairpin drop heard ‘round the world" at Stonewall. These early activists helped transform their world. By remembering them, even in the face of far-reaching hatred and violence, we might be able to hold onto a glimmer of hope for the future.
Now, On To The Top Comments!
A special thanks to this week's Top Comments contributors! (Dragon5616 and myself...get those nominations in for tomorrow's Top Comments!)
From Dragon5616:
detroitmechworks was on a roll with help from mrsgoo and earicicle in JeffLieber's wonderful snark, "Back to Birmingham."
From yours truly, Chrislove:
There were a couple of really good comments in Capriccio's diary "Who Ya Gonna Thank": one from commonmass and one from Catte Nappe.
In sujigu's diary "The way conservatives sound to liberals," xxdr zombiexx gives us this delicious comment, which I'm sure we've all heard before, but it's good enough to repeat.
Finally, Some Top Mojo!
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