A local paving contractor this month is expected to reinstall a granite plaque for a San Francisco historic transgender site that was damaged during a streetscape project in the city's Tenderloin district. It comes weeks after the location was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, making it the first known property to receive such federal recognition due to its importance to the trans community.
The commemorative sidewalk plaque had been installed in front of 101 Taylor Street where one night in August 1966 a drag queen patron of Gene Compton's Cafeteria got into an altercation with a police officer that resulted in a riot by LGBTQ customers of the all-night eatery. While the exact date of the incident has been lost to history, it received greater recognition as a seminal moment in LGBTQ history due to the 2005 documentary "Screaming Queens" by transgender scholar and historian Susan Stryker, Ph.D.
The damaged sidewalk marker had been unveiled during Pride Month in 2006 as part of the commemorations for the 40th anniversary of what has become known as the Compton's Cafeteria riots. As the Bay Area Reporter noted at the time, the plaque partly read, "transgender women and gay men stood up for their rights and fought against police brutality, poverty, oppression and discrimination in the Tenderloin. We, the transgender, gay, lesbian, and bisexual community, are dedicating this plaque to the heroes of our civil rights movement."
It was damaged in the course of work on the Safer Taylor Street Project that saw the roadway be redesigned to slow down vehicles and provide a safer environment for pedestrians. The $9 million-plus project began in January 2022 and its completion was officially celebrated by city transit officials and elected leaders last month on January 3.
In response to questions from the B.A.R., San Francisco Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon explained that, "Contractor crews accidentally damaged the plaque when it was removed for sidewalk work as part of the Safer Taylor project. A replacement plaque has been fabricated, and our project landscape architect will give it a final review before installation to make sure it matches the quality and look of the old plaque."
Gordon did not disclose how much the new plaque is costing but did say the project's contractor is "covering the replacement costs." She added that it is expected to install it sometime next week, as early as Monday, February 24.
"We know how important these plaques are in telling and showcasing this important community history," noted Gordon, who became part of local LGBTQ history when her former employer, the San Francisco Chronicle, forbade her from covering same-sex marriage stories due to her 2004 marriage to her wife, at the time a photographer for the daily newspaper, which generated national headlines and an outcry from local LGBTQ leaders.
Locally-based Esquivel Grading and Paving Inc., was the lead contractor for the Taylor Street redesign. Reached by phone February 18, a representative for Esquivel told the B.A.R. she wasn't sure if the company could comment but said to submit any questions by email.
The company, in turn, forwarded to public works staff the B.A.R.'s questions on what it is costing to replace the historic marker and if it had a firm date for when it will be installed. The city department had yet to provide answers by the B.A.R.'s press deadline Wednesday.
A second bronze plaque honoring the history of the former Compton's location was not damaged during the street construction work and can be found on Turk Street right at the corner of Turk and Taylor streets. It is embedded in the sidewalk right behind the traffic light pole and in front of a pair of planter boxes, currently devoid of plants.
The historic marker, funded in 2011 via San Francisco's Neighborhood Arts Collaborative, was one of nine installed at historic sites within the Uptown Tenderloin National Historic District, as the local blog Beyond Chron noted at the time. Their installation was part of the district's "Lost Landmarks" initiative.
The Compton's plaque partly reads, "This confrontation was the first known full-scale riot for transgender and gay rights in U.S. history. It galvanized the community, prompting new public policies and social services that improved the lives of local transgender people."
The streetscape project for Taylor Street also resulted in the installation of decorative crosswalks and seating cubes highlighting the Transgender District, as noted in a 2023 contract update document. The cultural area recognizes the neighborhood's importance to the transgender residents who have long called it home, as well as its place in the development of the city's broader LGBTQ community.
As such, crosswalks sporting the blue, white, and pink colors of the Transgender Pride flag can be found on all four sides of the Turk and Taylor intersection. Just up the street at 132 Turk Street is queer sex club Eros, while directly across the roadway at 133 Turk is Aunt Charlie's, the Tenderloin's last remaining queer bar known for its drag shows.
As for the building that once housed Compton's, the private company GEO Group owns the property and operates a residential reentry facility there for people recently released from prison. Known as the 111 Taylor St. Apartments, its residents stay anywhere from six months to a year, according to the program's website.
There is talk of having the city landmark the entire building, which would provide it a modicum of protection, as any proposals for the site would trigger greater scrutiny of the plans by city planning staff. In 2022, San Francisco officials landmarked the intersection of Turk and Taylor in front of the building in recognition of the uprising by the LGBTQ Compton's patrons.
The city's 307th landmark also included portions of the structure's exterior walls containing the commercial space that had housed the Compton's eatery, specifically the lower 11 feet of the facade extending north 52 feet from the corner of Turk Street and 40 feet west from the corner of Taylor Street.
As the B.A.R. was first to report, the keeper of the register for federally-recognized historic properties listed the Compton's site on January 27 without any fanfare. The news of the national recognition reached local advocates earlier this month.
"Today, the Compton's Cafeteria riot is remembered as a turning point towards militant resistance in the LGBTQ, and particularly transgender, community throughout the United States," according to the application for its listing, which also noted that it has national significance "because of its influence on the future political and social representation of transgender and gendervariant people within the United States."
The events that took place at Compton's "support a multi-nodal view of the gay rights movement throughout the country; each event building and learning off each other," per the document.
This spring the Tenderloin Museum is mounting a revival of the interactive theater piece "Compton's Cafeteria Riot" that it had premiered in 2018. It opens April 11 and tickets are already on sale via the website.
The play and replaced plaque for Compton's come as the Trump administration attempts to erase the transgender community from public view. As was widely reported last week, the National Park Service removed the term "transgender" then also "queer" from the website for the Stonewall National Monument that recognizes the LGBTQ uprising against police harassment of queer and trans patrons of the Stonewall Inn bar in 1969, three years after the Compton's riot.
Political Notes, the notebook's online companion, returns Monday, February 24.
Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko and on Bluesky @ https://bsky.app/profile/politicalnotes.bsky.social
Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected]
Never miss a story! Keep up to date on the latest news, arts, politics, entertainment, and nightlife.
Sign up for the Bay Area Reporter's free weekday email newsletter. You'll receive our newsletters and special offers from our community partners.
Support California's largest LGBTQ newsroom. Your one-time, monthly, or annual contribution advocates for LGBTQ communities. Amplify a trusted voice providing news, information, and cultural coverage to all members of our community, regardless of their ability to pay -- Donate today!
