I just noticed that a film, "Screaming Queens: The Riot At Compton's Cafeteria" will be airing on many PBS affiliates west of the Mississippi.

Made by Susan Stryker and Victor Silverman this year, the film documents an important milestone in the fight for T/G rights that ocurred in 1966, in San Francisco, a full three years prior to Stonewall.

Located in SF's Tenderloin, Compton's Cafeteria was a late night hang out for strippers, T/G prostitutes and gogo dancers, gays, and other denizens of the night.

It began one night when a policeman entered and grabbed a transgender prostitute by the arm. She responded by throwing her coffee in his face. One thing led to another, and before long, a full scale riot was underway. And by the time it was over, a police car had been torched.

Ir is important to realize that Stonewall did not come out of a vacuum. That there were many such tranny uprisings, from the 1950s onward. Until that fateful day in 1969 when finally, the lessons learned from the Black Civil Rights struggle and the Anti-War movement created a revolution. And the world has never been the same since.

Unfortunately PBS is now being taken to task for being too "liberal". And so is the incredible NPR. There is a movement underway in the House to completely gut the funding for public broadcasting. Which means we will never get to see programs like this in the East. You can help by contacting Congress through this link:

Freepress.net

After all, it's nice to see some shows from time to time that are about us, no?