SF’s Compton’s site allowed to continue as prison reentry use 

San Francisco activists lost ground Wednesday night in reclaiming a site of historical resistance by trans people against police violence. The San Francisco Board of Appeals voted to uphold a letter of determination that allows a prison reentry company to continue operations out of the building that once housed Gene Compton’s Cafeteria.

The 4-1 vote July 16 means that GEO Reentry Services, a subsidiary of GEO Group Inc., can continue to utilize 111 Taylor Street as a halfway house for formerly incarcerated people. Transgender activists had hoped the board would deny the letter of determination; GEO Group contracts with the state of California and has operated out of the site for 36 years.

After city zoning officials granted GEO Reentry Services’ request for the property to continue to be classified for use as group housing, LGBTQ activists appealed the decision. Although they had missed the deadline to do so, the appeals board in the spring had allowed the matter to move forward so they could vote on it.

Sister Anya Streets, a formerly-incarcerated trans woman and member of the Comptons x Coalition aiming to reclaim the building, called the appeals board vote “a betrayal.” 

“GEO has no conditional use, no community trust, and no moral claim to this site. The city has just sanctioned carceral violence in a trans cultural district,” Sister Anya Streets stated in a news release. 

The building at 111 Taylor Street in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood is historic. The ground floor commercial space had housed Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, where one night in August 1966 a drag queen reportedly threw a cup of hot coffee in the face of a police officer who tried to arrest her without a warrant. The exact date of the altercation has been lost to time. But the incident sparked a riot between trans and queer patrons of the 24-hour diner and cops, as detailed in the 2005 documentary "Screaming Queens" by transgender scholar and historian Susan Stryker, Ph.D.

The property earlier this year became the first one of its kind, granted federal landmark status specifically for its connection to the transgender movement in the U.S. It is also now on the California Register of Historical Resources.

In 2022, San Francisco officials had landmarked the intersection of Turk and Taylor in front of the building in recognition of the uprising by the LGBTQ Compton’s patrons. The city's 307th landmark also included portions of the structure's exterior walls containing the commercial space that had housed the Compton’s eatery on both the Turk and Taylor street facades.

In their appeal, local activists, historians, and scholars claimed alleged errors in the city’s Planning Department determination. Chandra Laborde, author of the appeal, cited the lack of investigation into, or oversight of, GEO Group’s operations at the facility at the hearing.

Besides allegations of abuse, surveillance, and overcrowding, organizers of the appeal claim that as a federally recognized landmark , the site should reflect its original historical impact. 

The appeal came just after the expiration of GEO’s contract with California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation at the end of June. The GEO reentry facility operated on a previous letter of determination to keep its contracts. With the approval of the latest letter of determination, GEO will be able to renew its contract with the state for another three years.

San Francisco zoning administrator Corey Teague, who signed off on the letter of determination, said at the hearing that the scope of the letter of determination is “narrow.” It reaffirms, as it has the past 10 years, that GEO Group is operating a group housing facility out of 111 Taylor Street. Teague, along with senior building inspector Joseph Ospital, confirmed two “ongoing” complaints about the facility. 

Coincidentally, identifying as group housing allows a loophole from Assembly Bill 32 . The bill, signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019, prohibits the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from renewing or entering new contracts with private, for-profit prisons by 2028. Under the law, the state will not contract for detention facilities with GEO Group Inc. But, as Stryker pointed out during public comment, providing medical or rehabilitative services allows the facility to remain.

Public comment
Del Seymour, a Tenderloin resident and advocate, voiced his support for the historical significance of the building, but talked about the help residents have received at 111 Taylor Street.

“I work with 111 Taylor, been working with them through my job training,” he said. “We have got so many people and given them their life back… It’s a lot of Black and Brown people in there that wouldn’t ever have any other way to go.”

Cherry Javier, resident and city employee with the Office of Transgender Initiatives, spoke about her father’s recent experience at GEO’s reentry facility.

“When he told me that he was going [to 111 Taylor Street], it wasn’t ‘I’m going to a group home’ or ‘I’m gonna be free,’ it’s, “I’m going to another institution to serve out the rest of my sentence, and I’m looking forward to maybe getting to be outside once a week for a few hours,’” she said.

Miss Janetta Johnson, TurkxTaylor Initiative member and a former resident at 111 Taylor Street, recalled during a news conference Wednesday evening that residents would work three jobs a day to stay out of the facility as long as possible.

David Blackwell, attorney for GEO Group Inc., argued in his testimony during the appeals hearing that the determination of the site as a group house had nothing to do with how the facility actually operates.

“It’s important to understand the distinction between what this proceeding is for, the LoD (letter of determination), and the enforcement. And the enforcement looks back to, ‘are these guys doing what they say they’re doing, or are we doing something else.’ ... But for this discreet issue, there’s no question that this LoD is consistent with LoDs for the last 36 years.” Blackwell said.

Laborde and other TurkxTaylor Initiative members argued that, because of the alleged conditions and treatment of residents at 111 Taylor Street, GEO Group was in violation of its land use determination.

“I would argue that it’s reasonable to say that there has been an error… when GEO Group submits ‘work furlough program,’ it’s understood that people are required to stay there,” San Francisco resident Radon Rosborough said during public comment. “This is not normal housing, and I think that’s the error in that classification. And the precedent does not mean that that’s not an error. It just means it’s been an error for a long time.”

Hunter, who identified themself with one name, spoke in favor of the appeal. 

“GEO didn’t deny the abuse, they just said, ‘You can’t prove it yet,’” Hunter said during public comment.

The Board of Appeals didn’t see it that way. During deliberation, members shared their sympathies and encouraged the organizers to take their effort to the Board of Supervisors. All but one, Vice President JR Eppler, voted to uphold the letter of determination. 

At a news conference afterward, Stryker, Johnson, and other organizers expressed their disappointment in the outcome, but their collective inspiration to keep going.

“The hearing today was not just about reclaiming a space that holds unequivocable significance tethered to transgender history, but it was also a hearing, calling for a body like the Board of Appeals to uphold due diligence, bureaucratic accountability, and full transparency from corporations…,” said Jupiter Peraza, outreach coalition manager at Openhouse, an LGBTQ senior agency.

The 111 Taylor Street building is a site of deep cultural significance within the boundaries of the world’s first Transgender District. While there is no exact date of the Compton’s riots, trans community members will mark the 59th anniversary of the event August 23.

In September 2023, the state of California passed a resolution designating August as Transgender History Month, which was first recognized last year. Former San Francisco mayor London Breed also declared August as Transgender History Month in 2021.