Cooper Do-nuts Riot

Last updated

Cooper Do-nuts Riot
Part of events leading to the
Gay liberation movement
CooperDonuts.jpg
A Cooper Do-nuts location in 1961
DateMay 1959
Location
Cooper Do-nuts, 215 South Main Street, Los Angeles, California, US
Goals Gay liberation and LGBT rights in the United States
Parties
Patrons of Cooper Donuts cafe

The Cooper Do-nuts Riot was an alleged uprising in reaction to police harassment of LGBT people at a 24-hour donut cafe in Los Angeles in the 1960s. Whether the riot actually happened, the date, location and whether or not the cafe was a branch of the Cooper chain are all disputed, and there is a lack of contemporary documentary evidence, [1] with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) stating that any records of such event would have been purged years ago. [2]

Contents

According to John Rechy, who stated he was at the event, it occurred in 1958 or 1959, [1] about 10 years prior to the better-known Stonewall riots in New York City, and is viewed by some historians [3] :2 as the first modern LGBT uprising in the United States.

Background

Few people lived openly as LGBT in the 1950s, and those that did faced both social and legal consequences for doing so. One of the few places they were welcome were gay bars, which themselves often faced legal consequences for serving them, such as the loss of their license. Los Angeles law made it illegal for a person's gender presentation not to match the gender shown on their ID, and this was often used to target and arrest transgender or cross-dressing bar patrons. [4] For this reason, many gay bars were hostile to transgender patrons and banned or discouraged them from entering. [5]

Novelist John Rechy, who says he was present at the riot, described the routine arrests in his 1963 novel, City of Night : "They interrogate you, fingerprint you without booking you: an illegal L.A. cop-tactic to scare you from hanging around." [6] The names of individuals arrested in a bar raid would routinely be reported by local newspapers, outing them to the community, usually resulting in the loss of jobs and being socially ostracized. Arrests by the LAPD for homosexuality had increased by more than 85% in the previous decade under the police chief William H. Parker. [7] Queer activist Harry Hay later recalled that abuse of LGBT people by police was common during this time, and sometimes met resistance. [8]

Riots

At times, Rechy has said that the shop was located on the 500 block of South Main Street and did not belong to the Cooper chain, but that donut shops were referred to by that name generically. [1] A common version of the story says that Cooper Do-nuts was a café at 215 South Main Street in downtown Los Angeles' Skid Row neighborhood. Located near two gay bars—Harold's, at 555 South Main Street, and The Waldorf, at 521 South Main Street—and open all night, it was a popular hangout for gay people, and welcomed them. [3] :1–8 [7] One evening in May 1959 (Rechy once wrote 1958 [1] ), two police officers reportedly entered the cafe and asked for IDs from several patrons, a typical form of harassment. The officers are said to have attempted to arrest two drag queens, two male sex workers, and a young man cruising for a date. [9] Rechy said they attempted to arrest him, and described the LAPD's abuse on this night as a culmination of routine targeting of the LGBTQ community. [10]

The report continues that one of those arrested protested the lack of room in the police car for all five of them, and onlookers began throwing assorted coffee, donuts, cups, and trash at the police until they fled in their car without making the arrests. [5] People then reportedly took to rioting and celebrating in the streets, as a larger crowd grew as patrons of surrounding gay bars and others in the area heard about it. [7] The story continues that police backup arrived, blocking off the street for the entire night, and that police beat or arrested several people. [11] Rechy said he was still slated for arrest, but escaped. [7]

Legacy

The Cooper Do-nuts uprising is often cited as the first gay uprising in the United States. [3] :2 Hay identified it as the first specifically against police treatment of LGBT people. [8] Some historians contest the significance, claiming that anyone who was openly gay at the time was already in rebellion and risking arrest and imprisonment.[ citation needed ] Mark Thompson, a historian who lived in the same area as Rechy, wrote: "I would not describe it as a riot but more like an isolated patch of local social unrest that had lasting repercussions. I think less in its day, more as a lesson for us today." [5]

In 2020 the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council considered making Cooper Do-nuts a historical site and requested police records to corroborate Rechy's account of the riots. The LAPD revealed that there were no records from that time, because they were either "purged or destroyed". [2] Nancy Valverde stated she had heard about the event right away from a friend. [12]

On June 22, 2023, as the City of Los Angeles erected a ceremonial Cooper Do-nuts Square sign at 2nd and Main Streets, the LAPD made a formal apology for its harassment of gay citizens. Commander Ruby Flores said, "I deeply apologize on behalf of the men and women of the LAPD. This mistreatment and harassment of our citizens was wrong. It should have never happened." [13]

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonewall riots</span> 1969 spontaneous uprising for gay liberation

The Stonewall riots, also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, Stonewall revolution, or simply Stonewall, were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Although the demonstrations were not the first time American homosexuals fought back against government-sponsored persecution of sexual minorities, the Stonewall riots marked a new beginning for the gay rights movement in the United States and around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Night riots</span> 1979 riots in San Francisco, California, US

The White Night riots were a series of violent events sparked by an announcement of a lenient sentencing of Dan White for the assassinations of George Moscone, the mayor of San Francisco, and of Harvey Milk, a member of the city's Board of Supervisors who was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States. The events took place on the night of May 21, 1979, in San Francisco. Earlier that day White had been convicted of voluntary manslaughter, the lightest possible conviction for his actions. The lesser conviction outraged the city's gay community, setting off the most violent reaction by gay Americans since the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stonewall Inn</span> Gay tavern and monument in New York City

The Stonewall Inn is a gay bar and recreational tavern at 53 Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the site of the 1969 Stonewall riots, which led to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights in the United States. When the riots occurred, Stonewall was one of the relatively few gay bars in New York City. The original gay bar occupied two structures at 51–53 Christopher Street, which were built as horse stables in the 1840s.

John Francisco Rechy is a Mexican-American novelist and essayist. His novels are written extensively about gay culture in Los Angeles and wider America, among other subject matter. City of Night, his debut novel published in 1963, was a best seller. Drawing on his own background, he has contributed to Mexican-American literature, notably with his novel The Miraculous Day of Amalia Gomez, which has been taught in several Chicano studies courses throughout the United States. But, even after the success of his first novel, he still worked as a prostitute, teaching during the day, and hustling at night. He worked as a prostitute into his forties while also teaching at UCLA. Through the 1970's and 1980's he dealt with personal drug use, as well as the AIDS crisis, which killed many of his friends.

<i>City of Night</i> 1963 novel by John Rechy

City of Night is a novel written by John Rechy. It was originally published in 1963 in New York by Grove Press. Earlier excerpts had appeared in Evergreen Review, Big Table, Nugget, and The London Magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvia Rivera</span> American LGBT rights activist (1951–2002)

Sylvia Rivera was an American gay liberation and transgender rights activist who was also a noted community worker in New York. Rivera, who identified as a drag queen for most of her life and later as a transgender person, participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compton's Cafeteria riot</span> 1966 protest for transgender rights in San Francisco

The Compton's Cafeteria riot occurred in August 1966 in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. The riot was a response to the violent and constant police harassment of trans people, particularly trans women, and drag queens. The incident was one of the first LGBTQ-related riots in United States history, preceding the more famous 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. It marked the beginning of transgender activism in San Francisco.

Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) was a gay, gender non-conforming and transvestite street activist organization founded in 1970 by Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, subculturally-famous New York City drag queens of color. STAR was a radical political collective that also provided housing and support to homeless LGBT youth and sex workers in Lower Manhattan. Rivera and Johnson were the "mothers" of the household, and funded the organization largely through sex work. STAR is considered by many to be a groundbreaking organization in the queer liberation movement and a model for other organizations.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place worldwide in the 1950s.

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Cat Tavern</span> LGBT historic site in Los Angeles, California

The Black Cat Tavern is an LGBT historic site located in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1967, it was the site of one of the first demonstrations in the United States protesting police brutality against LGBT people, preceding the Stonewall riots by over two years.

The Patch was an LGBT bar formerly located at 610 W. Pacific Coast Highway in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington, California. The Patch, along with the Black Cat Tavern, played a pivotal role in the gay rights movement, when, in August 1968, it was one of the first sites where there was open resistance to the constant police harassment of gay establishments and meeting places in Southern California.

Personal Rights in Defense and Education (PRIDE) was a gay political organization. It was established in 1966 as a radical gay political organization that from its origination set a new tone for gay political groups like the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), ACT UP and the Radical Faeries. PRIDE led aggressive, unapologetic demonstrations against the oppression by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) of gay gatherings or same-sex meetings in the city of Los Angeles. PRIDE's monthly single-page newsletter evolved into The Advocate, the nation's longest running gay news publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ history in the United States</span>

LGBTQ history in the United States spans the contributions and struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, as well as the LGBTQ social movements they have built.

Gay Liberation Monument Monument in New York City, U.S.

The Gay Liberation Monument is part of the Stonewall National Monument, which commemorates the Stonewall uprising of 1969. Created in 1980, the Gay Liberation sculpture by American artist George Segal was the first piece of public art dedicated to gay rights and solidarity for LGBTQ individuals, while simultaneously commemorating the ongoing struggles of the community. The monument was dedicated on June 23, 1992, as part of the dedication of the Stonewall National Monument as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ culture in New York City</span>

New York City has been described as the gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest and most prominent LGBTQ+ populations. Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rise buildings, and Broadway theatre". LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs". LGBT advocate and entertainer Madonna stated metaphorically, "Anyways, not only is New York City the best place in the world because of the queer people here. Let me tell you something, if you can make it here, then you must be queer."

<i>Happy Birthday, Marsha!</i> 2018 American film

Happy Birthday, Marsha! is a 2017 fictional short film that imagines the gay and transgender rights pioneers Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera in the hours that led up to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. The film stars Mya Taylor as Johnson and Eve Lindley as Rivera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of LGBT history in the United States</span>

This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the United States.

Nancy Valverde was an American Chicana LGBT rights activist and pioneer in Los Angeles, California, who was considered a lesbian icon.

Equal is an American documentary television series produced by Scout Productions, Berlanti Productions, Raintree Ventures, That's Wonderful Productions, and Warner Horizon Unscripted Television. The four-part series chronicles landmark events and leaders in LGBTQ history, and consists of a mixture of archival footage and scripted reenactments. Equal stars several actors including Samira Wiley, Jamie Clayton, and Anthony Rapp. The series premiered on HBO Max on October 22, 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Piepenburg, Erik (June 5, 2023). "A Gay Riot at a Doughnut Shop? The Legend Has Some Holes". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 21, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023 via Internet Archive.
  2. 1 2 "LGBTQ History in Los Angeles: Cooper Do-Nuts and Black Cat Tavern". Los Angeles: Los Angeles Almanac. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Faderman, Lillian; Timmons, Stuart (2006). Gay L.A.: A History of Sexual Outlaws, Power Politics, and Lipstick Lesbians . New York, NY: Basic Books. ISBN   978-0-465-02288-5 via Internet Archives.
  4. Avery, Dan. "5 Pre-Stonewall Events That Shaped the LGBT Community: Trailblazers". NewNowNext.com. Logo TV . Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Lilly, Christiana (September 30, 2016). "Los Angeles' Cooper Donuts gay riots sparked a revolution 10 years before Stonewall". The Pride LA. Los Angeles. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
  6. James, Scott (June 20, 2019). "What Was Your Stonewall? Pivotal L.G.B.T.Q. Moments Across the U.S." The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 12, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2020 via Internet Archive.
  7. 1 2 3 4 "Cooper Do-nuts". Los Angeles: ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives . Retrieved April 27, 2022 via University of Southern California.
  8. 1 2 Moffitt, Evan (May 31, 2015). "Today in Gay History: 10 Years Before Stonewall, There Was the Cooper's Donuts Riot". Out . Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  9. Springate, Megan E. (2016). LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History (PDF). National Park Foundation. p. 18:29. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  10. "Queer history was made at Cooper's Donuts in Los Angeles". Q Voice News. Los Angeles. May 3, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  11. Faderman, Lillian (September 27, 2016). The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle (Reprint ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 115–116. ISBN   978-1451694123 . Retrieved June 30, 2017 via Google Books.
  12. Stuart, Gwynedd (May 29, 2019). "Before Stonewall, the Queer Revolution Started Right Here in Los Angeles". Los Angeles Magazine . Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  13. "LAPD issues apology to LGBTQ+ community during ceremony honoring activists". Los Angeles: KABC-TV. June 22, 2023.