Compton’s Cafeteria Riot

The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot of August 1966 is one of the first known instances where trans and gay people collectively resisted arrest to protest police mistreatment. In the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, California, drag queens fought back against police officers attempting to remove them from Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, a 24-hour restaurant, and place them under arrest. Although this event predates the Stonewall Riots by almost 3 years, it is not well known. The riot served as a catalyst for other organized protests in San Francisco, but it did not spark the ongoing protests and later national marches that occurred after Stonewall.