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Home > Wellington > Screaming Queens: The Riot At Compton’s Cafeteria
WELLINGTON
Fri 2 Jun, 6.30pm, Paramount
Screaming Queens: The Riot At Compton’s Cafeteria
Dir: Susan Stryker, USA, 2005, Beta SP, 55 mins
Transgender scholar Susan Stryker presents the exciting story of a riot in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco in which transgender prostitutes and gay activists fought back against police harassment. The forgotten incident took place in 1966, three years before Stonewall. It began when a policeman entered Compton’s Cafeteria, a tranny hangout, and took a transgender prostitute by the arm. She responded by throwing her coffee in his face. The fuse of mounting tensions was lit and a riot began. By the time it was over a police car had been burned. Stryker finds several old-timers who remember the riot and the events leading up to it. She interviews former prostitutes, policemen and a transwoman who earned her living dancing in a cabaret. The interviews combined with archive footage give a real sense of what the 60s were like for the queer community as well as a peek at the complex development of the gay rights movement.
Preceded by
Irene Williams: Queen Of Lincoln Road
Dir: Eric Smith, USA, 2005, Beta SP, 23 mins
In South Beach, Miami, a gay man strikes up an unlikely friendship with an eccentric elderly woman who has an inventive sense of style.
Total Running Time: 78 mins
Supported by
WELLINGTON
Fri 2 Jun, 6.30pm, Paramount
Gold Tiara Sponsor
Silver Tiara Sponsor
Reel Queer Inc, PO Box 27-070, Wellington 6141, New Zealand
Tel: +64 4 972 6775 Fax: +64 4 801 9906
Email: info@outtakes.org.nz
Website hosted by Out Takes 2005 sponsor ORCON