10/5/08

Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria

"We were fighting for our rights. Not as gay people but for our individual freedom."






We were selling our bodies to stay alive one more day




A new identity emerged "Transexual" and hope for a normal life.



The possibilities and reality of change!



We willingly stand on the corner, be it one or a thousand, without fear, to fight for our right to be FULLY recognized in 2008 as EQUAL in the "Human Rights Campaign".


We are still fighting for our rights. Not as GAY people but for our individual freedom. We will NOT disgrace the ones who came before. We will NOT be left behind.

Kelli Busey
October 5, 2008
planetransgender

3 comments:

Queers United said...

great videos thank you. i wasn't clear on the last one though, why was that police officer being honored?

planet trans said...

Queers United Thank you for asking(hugs)
I got this description off the You Tube site,
"On a hot August night in 1966, in the seedy Tenderloin district in San Francisco a group of Transgender people stood up to police harassment and brutality, and the result was a riot at the Gene Compton's Cafeteria.
That cat of resistance was a turning point for the transgender community.
On June 22, 2006 a commemoration reception was held at that site and a granite plaque was set into the sidewalk.
Officer Elliot Blackstone was a key figure in helping TG people regain respect, and freedom from police harassment and brutality."
I have read in a number of accounts that Officer Blackstone was instrumental in the miraculous change of heart which transformed the S.F. police force from an antagonist adversary to a force presently being lead by a transgender person. Pretty awesome stuff.

shrink on the couch said...

thanks for an enlightening series of videos. I had heard of the Compton's riots but had forgotten what they were all about.