{"id":2,"date":"2018-04-20T19:14:21","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T19:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2018-04-30T20:28:45","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T20:28:45","slug":"sample-page","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/browse-the-materials\/sample-page\/","title":{"rendered":"Compton’s Cafeteria"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The first known instance of collective militant queer resistance to police harassment in United States history.”\u2014 <\/span>Susan Stryker, trans historian.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Black<\/a>
Gene Compton\u2019s cafeteria in San Francisco\u2019s Tenderloin district. The site of a landmark riot between trans people and police in 1966. Photo given to NPR courtesy of Screaming Queens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the 1960s, in San Francisco\u2019s redlight Tenderloin District, a 24-hour food joint by the name of Compton\u2019s Cafeteria was an unofficial congregation spot for genderbent queers of all sorts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Owned by a queer elder, Compton\u2019s was a place where folks\u2014many of whom were young and engaged in survival sex work\u2014would go to get food, to hang out, to be indoors with a bathroom, and to sit down in a chair, without getting kicked out.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photograph<\/a>
Photo of Tamara Ching, which she courteously gave to NPR, year unknown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asian American transgender woman Tamara Ching\u2014pictured right\u2014who grew up in the Tenderloin and frequented Compton\u2019s in the 1960s said of the place:<\/span><\/p>\n

“It was good to go and be seen and talk to people about what happened during the night. To make sure everybody’s okay, everyone made their coins, everybody’s coming down off drugs and didn’t overdose, and that you didn’t go to jail that night […] Compton’s nourished people. People would sit there for days drinking a cup of coffee. I would buy a full meal. I don’t cook and I loved eating at Compton’s.\u201d<\/span>\u2014Tamara Ching, interview with Nicole Pasuka, NPR, 2015.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Such was the arrangement at Compton\u2019s until 1966 when the original owner passed away. \u00a0New owners called the police, and instead of putting up with the police harassment, folks fought back and a violent riot broke out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why does this place matter?<\/i><\/b><\/h4>\n

Other than being a pre-stonewall queer riot, Compton\u2019s was a place trans people had made their <\/span>own<\/span><\/i>, taken up space in, and <\/span>fought for <\/span><\/i>when threatened. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Image of the Vanguard \u201cStreet Sweep,\u201d 1966.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In response to the Compton\u2019s riot, San Francisco queer youth activist group Vanguard held a symbolic \u201cstreet sweep,\u201d reclaiming public space as their own and protesting their displacement by police.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the many displaced trans youth that lived and worked in the Tenderloin (or other places, for that matter), public space often had to function as the space for \u201cprivate\u201d activities like living, sex, and fostering a sense of family.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The first known instance of collective militant queer resistance to police harassment in United States history.”\u2014 Susan Stryker, trans historian. In the 1960s, in San Francisco\u2019s redlight Tenderloin District, a 24-hour food joint by the name of Compton\u2019s Cafeteria was an unofficial congregation spot for genderbent queers of all sorts. Owned by a queer elder, … Continue reading Compton’s Cafeteria<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":765,"featured_media":0,"parent":46,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/765"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2\/revisions\/194"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/trans-archives-project\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}