Compton's Cafeteria riot

Compton's Cafeteria served as a vital sanctuary for the transgender community in the nineteen sixties because few other establishments would allow them inside. Management frequently called the police to remove transgender customers, labeling them as loiterers who hurt business. This constant cycle of harassment and intimidation reached a breaking point in August of nineteen sixty-six when a police officer attempted to arrest a transgender woman inside the cafeteria. She threw a cup of hot coffee in his face, sparking a spontaneous and militant uprising that spilled out onto the streets of the Tenderloin. For the first time in United States history, a group of transgender women and drag queens collectively fought back against systemic police oppression.