Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria

Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria is an award-winning 2005 documentary film by directors Victor Silverman and Susan Stryker.

Still from "Screaming Queens"

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Production Information

• Title: Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton's Cafeteria
• Directors: Victor Silverman & Susan Stryker
• Year: 2005
• Country: USA
• Length: 57 min.
• Language: English

Synopsis

EMMY® Award-winning Screaming Queens tells the little-known story of the first known act of collective, violent resistance to the social oppression of queer people in the United States — a 1966 riot in San Francisco’s impoverished Tenderloin neighborhood, three years before the famous gay riot at New York’s Stonewall Inn.

Screaming Queens introduces viewers to street queens, cops and activist civil rights ministers who recall the riot and paint a vivid portrait of the wild transgender scene in 1960s San Francisco. Integrating the riot’s story into the broader fabric of American life, the documentary connects the event to urban renewal, anti-war activism, civil rights and sexual liberation. With enticing archival footage and period music, this unknown story is dramatically brought back to life.

Screaming Queens is a production of Victor Silverman and Susan Stryker produced in association with ITVS and KQED, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Awards

Northern California EMMY® for Outstanding Achievement, Historical/Cultural Program

Reviews

“While the 1969 Stonewall riot is historically considered the catalyst for the gay rights movement, it was not the first act of collective resistance by the gay community against an oppressive society...In August 1966, a police raid on Compton’s Cafeteria in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district erupted into a violent conflict between law enforcement and the establishment’s predominantly transgendered clientele. The aftermath ushered in a new era of tolerance for the transgendered community in San Francisco, while also creating a nascent political network that addressed a wide range of gay issues (the 1966 riot was not just about social equality but also economic equality---some of the Compton’s Cafeteria rioters made their living as prostitutes in the seedy Tenderloin because of blatant discrimination in job hiring, housing, and social services assistance). Combining archival footage together with interviews of both the cross-dressers and the police at the scene of the riot, Screaming Queens provides a fascinating chronicle of an overlooked chapter in the civil rights struggle for a truly egalitarian society. **** Highly recommended. Editor’s Choice. Audience: Colleges and universities, public libraries."

- Video Librarian

Distribution Information

Distributed by Frameline[[1]]

External Links

• [Screaming Queens] on www.frameline.org

• [website for Screaming Queens]

• [a clip of Screaming Queens]