Screaming Queens | KQED Truly CA

It’s a hot August night in San Francisco in 1966. Compton’s Cafeteria, in the seedy Tenderloin district, is hopping with its usual assortment of transgender people, young street hustlers, and down-and-out regulars. The management, annoyed by the noisy crowd at one table, calls the police. When a surly cop, accustomed to manhandling Compton’s clientele, attempts to arrest one of the queens, she throws her coffee in his face. Mayhem erupts — windows break, furniture flies through the air. Police reinforcements arrive, and the fighting spills into the street. For the first time, the drag queens band together to fight back, getting the better of the cops, whom they kick and stomp with their high-heeled shoes and beat with their heavy purses. For everyone at Compton’s that night, one thing was certain — things would never be the same again. A film by Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman. http://ww2.kqed.org/trulyca/screaming... 🚨 Take our short survey to help us shape our new YouTube series ! ► https://forms.gle/JxiRiKyJ9h2Bs7YU6 Hit that SUBSCRIBE button! http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c... Like us on Facebook:   / kqedtrulyca   Follow us on Twitter:   / kqedarts