In Honor of the Compton’s Riot: Remembering Philly’s Screaming QueensTommi Avicolli Meccabyline‚ Jun. 23‚ 2006Yesterday, the city of San Francisco rightly honored the 40th anniversary of the Compton Riot by dedicating a plaque in the cement in front of the spot where it occurred. Compton’s Cafeteria at Turk and Taylor in the Tenderloin was a popular hangout for transgender folks in the late 60s. Subjected to constant verbal and physical abuse from the police, the queens and male hustlers who patronized the eatery took to the streets in August, 1966 and fought back in much the same way as queens would do three years later in New York’s Greenwich Village. The Compton Riot is beautifully remembered in “Screaming Queens,” a documentary by Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman. |