We marched because in the early 1960’s Vanguard (queer
street youth) of the Tenderloin marched with pastors and seniors to get federal
funds for the area and demand that the city pick up the actual trash rather
than sending the police to sweep them out of the area.
They Won!
Poverty funds they won provided the funding for many of the homeless
organizations that still exist in the Tenderloin, and the meal night they
created at Glide Memorial is nationally known.
We gather at Turk and
Taylor to remember
the 46th Anniversary of the Compton Cafeteria Riots. Documented in Susan Stryker’s Screaming Queens, the riots came were a
response to police harassment and discrimination by the owners of all-night
coffee shops. Transgender activists and
the Vanguard youth threw salt and sugar shakers out windows and fought back
against police.
The Work Continues! LGBTQ homeless youth in the Tenderloin still struggle with
police harassment and discrimination by business owners. Today it is estimated that 1 in 4 youth who
come out to parents will become homeless and that 40% of the estimated 3,200
homeless youth in San Francisco are LGBTQ.
A contemporary group of LGBTQ
homeless youth, supported by the Welcome Ministry and the GLBT Historical
Society have been working in the last three years to share the story of the
1960’s Vanguard youth and meet regularly as the new group Otro Vanguard. They helped to plan today’s action with
Pastor Megan Rohrer and Felicia Flames.
You can watch a live stream of the rally here:
The presentation begins about 20 minutes into the video. Enjoy!
