Black Cat Tavern
| The Black Cat | |
|---|---|
 Location of The Black Cat in California
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| Location | 3909 W. Sunset Blvd. |
| Built | 1939 |
| Architectural style(s) | Art Deco |
| Governing body | private |
| Designated | 2008 |
| Reference no. | 939 |
The Black Cat Tavern was an LGBT bar located at 3909 West Sunset Boulevard in the Sunset Junction neighborhood of the Silver Lake district in Los Angeles, California. It was the site of one of the first riots in the United States protesting police harassment of LGBT people, and it preceded the Stonewall riots by over two years.
Moreover, the police raids and the subsequent protests at the Black Cat Tavern can be understood within the spatial and temporal context of the Sunset Strip Curfew Riots that took place during the Counterculture Movement of the 1960s. Individuals protesting police raids spawned by homophobic sentiment were urged by speakers to make a "[...] unified community stand in Silver Lake against police brutality." In other words, the riot at the Black Cat Tavern became a platform to discuss intersectional issues relating to the criminal justice system.
The bar was established in November 1966. On the night of New Year's Day 1967, several plain-clothes LAPD police officers infiltrated the tavern. According to Tangents – a local gay newspaper – “The Black Cat was happy and hooping” before undercover police arrived and started beating patrons as they were ringing in the New Year: "There were colored balloons covering the ceiling ... and three glittering Christmas trees." Moments later, “all hell broke loose.”
After arresting several patrons for kissing as they celebrated the occasion, the undercover police officers began beating several of the patrons and ultimately arrested fourteen patrons for “assault and public lewdness."
The police used deliberate and excessive force during the raid to carry out explicitly homophobic state legislation that prevented queer folks from (1) kissing and/or engaging in any sexual acts, and (2) wearing clothing that did not match their socially prescribed gender role. For example, one of the patrons was aggressively beaten in the head by a cop wielding a pool cue.
This created a riot in the immediate area that expanded to include the bar across Sanborn Avenue called New Faces, where officers knocked down the owner, a woman, and beat two bartenders unconscious. Several days later, this police action incited a civil demonstration of 300-600 attendees to protest the raids on February 11, 1967. The demonstration was organized by a group called PRIDE (Personal Rights in Defense and Education) – founded by Steve Ginsberg – and the SCCRH (Southern California Council on Religion and Homophile). The protest was met by squadrons of armed policemen.
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