Great Wall Institute: The Process of the Great Wall of Los AngelesMain MenuResearch of the DecadesResearch1960s Illustration DevelopmentIllustration DevelopmentPlaylists of the DecadesPlaylistssparcinla.org185fc5b2219f38c7b63f42d87efaf997127ba4fcGreat Wall Institute - Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC)
Cooper’s Do-nuts
1media/Screen Shot 2023-03-27 at 1.34.12 PM_thumb.png2023-03-27T20:34:28+00:00Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a4911"...Cooper’s Do-Nuts uprising right here in Los Angeles. Main Street was a popular hub for LGBTQ+ people, and Cooper’s Do-Nuts was a 24 hour welcoming space for trans folx in a city that otherwise targeted those who had IDs and driver’s licenses with gender markers that didn’t match their gender presentations. The fact that Cooper’s was a space where trans women, drag queens, and gender diverse people could congregate, made it a target for police and arrests.LA law at the time dictated that if your gender presentation did not match the gender on your ID you would be taken to jail and LGBTQ people were subject to campaigns of entrapment, intimidation and violence. As a result, many gay bars banned or actively discouraged trans and/or visibly gender diverse people from attending in order to avoid attracting attention and being targeted by raids. There were rules that you must wear at least three items of clothing that match your legal gender.One evening in May of 1959, the police attempted to arrest several patrons including two drag queens, two male sex workers and a gay man. As those arrested attempted to fight back, protesting their unjust arrest onlookers from Cooper’s Do-Nuts decided enough was enough, and a group consisting of transwomen, lesbians, drag queens and gay men, spilled out onto the street in support and threw coffee cups, donuts and trash at the police until they were forced to retreat without their detainees. Backup was called and a night of rioting ensued. That night is widely considered to be the first gay uprising in modern history, seven years before the Black Cat Riot in L.A.’s Silverlake neighborhood, and ten years before the Stonewall Rebellion." - by William Grant Still Arts Centerplain2023-03-27T20:34:28+00:001959Gina Leonf0ac362b4453e23ee8a94b1a49fbeeafde2a0a49