Compton's Cafeteria Riots 40th Anniversary

Karin Tobiason
ktobiason@goodvibes.com
415-332-4207

Compton’s Cafeteria Riots 40th Anniversary
Commemoration Kick-Off

(SAN FRANSICO, CA)- March 15, 2006- The Kick-Off Commemoration of the 40th Year Anniversary of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot will be celebrated on March 23, 2006 at 7:00pm at the Metropolitan Community Church Sanctuary at 150 Eureka in San Francisco. A screening of the recent documentary “Screaming Queens’” by filmmakers Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman chronicles this historic time marking one of the beginnings of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) movement resistance.

Three years before the famous rioting at New York’s Stonewall Inn, a group of transgender women and gay street hustlers fought back for the first time in history against everyday police harassment. This was known as the 1966 Riot at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin at Turk and Taylor in San Francisco.

“It was the first time that people who were discriminated against because of their gender identity banded together to resist their oppression”, noted Stryker. “ And it had results—in the years after the riot, trans activists and allies began to make real progress in meeting the unique social and medical needs of trans people.”

Commemoration activities are sponsored in part by Good Vibrations, San Francisco’s legendary destination for accurate information about sex. “As one of the top US employers of transgenders, Good Vibrations is proud to continue the fight for transgender equality, a fight that was started forty years ago at the Compton’s Cafeteria,” says Theresa Sparks, Good Vibrations General Manager and CFO.

This kick-off event pays homage to the courageous pioneers who participated in the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot. This is an opportunity to meet LGBT community leaders, view the documentary “Screaming Queens” and learn more about San Francisco LGBT history. This event is free, but seating is limited to the first 250 attendees.

For additional information, photos, B-roll or to set up interviews with LGBT community leaders contact Karin Tobiason at 415-332-4207 or ktobiason@goodvibes.com.

For more information, please visit www.comptonscafeteriariot.org.