ILLUSTRATIONS: EGO RODRIGUEZ
A DRAG QUEEN threw a cup of coffee into a cop’s face as he tried to arrest her. In a flick of the wrist, the place erupted. After suffering years of insult and ostracism, the anger burst forth into a flood. Drag queens, hustlers and transgender youths threw sugar bowls, knives, forks; anything they could get their hands on. Some used their heavy handbags to batter the policemen. But this wasn’t at New York’s famous Stonewall Inn. It was at an all-night coffee shop on the other side of the country — in 1966, three years before the morewidely known protest.
As the cafeteria’s windows were smashed, the police retreated. The violence spilled into the streets. It was noisy, public — and unprecedented.