http://www.planetout.com/news/article.html?2006/06/22/4Excerpt:
Although Gene Compton's eatery in the seedy Tenderloin district of San Francisco was a haven for gay men, lesbians and transgender people, police harassment was nonetheless a common occurrence. On an evening in August, 1966, an officer entered and grabbed one of the "queens," who threw a cup of coffee in his face. Mayhem erupted as drag queens kicked the cops with their high-heeled shoes. Rioters smashed windows, broke furniture and set fire to a car. The event lasted a day, and picketing lasted several more days.
[...]
"Forty years ago, female impersonation was illegal, and you could even be arrested for wearing buttons on the wrong side of your shirt," Chung said. "In many ways, we can attribute our success in the transgender civil rights movement and the larger LGBT movement to our courageous predecessors at Compton's Cafeteria."
