Why We’re Fighting to Liberate Compton’s

Historic Site, Violent Present:

111 Taylor is the location of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, the first well documented landmark moment in trans and queer resistance. Today, it is operated by GEO Group, the worlds largest private prison corporation and top ICE contractor profiting off incarceration on sacred ground.

What’s Happening Now:

CDCR has quietly extended GEO Group’s contract at 111 Taylor through June 30, 2028, keeping a private prison corporation in the historic site of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot. On August 30, 2025 the Compton’s x Coalition will host a candlelight vigil for Melvin Bulauan at 7pm at 111 Taylor, honoring his life and demanding justice. In early October, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will hold a hearing to investigate GEO’s operations. We are organizing on all fronts to remove GEO from 111 Taylor and secure the site for permanent community stewardship.

Our vision:

We envision 111 Taylor Street, the historic site of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, transformed from a place of carceral harm into a community-stewarded hub for culture, care, and belonging.

Our vision is a future where:

  • Trans, immigrant, indigenous and justice-impacted people are centered in shaping community safety and care.

  • Historic sites of resistance are protected and honored, not handed to corporations for profit.

  • Land is held in Community Land Trusts, ensuring it can never again be used for incarceration or displacement.

  • Collective memory fuels collective liberation, connecting past resistance to present and future struggles.

Our Demands:

To achieve this vision, the Compton’s x Coalition demands:

  1. Remove GEO Group from 111 Taylor Street. A private prison corporation should have no place at the site of transgender resistance.

  2. Protect the site from federal backfill or carceral redevelopment. No new contracts, no ICE, no expansion of incarceration.

  3. Secure permanent community stewardship through a Community Land Trust. The site must be owned and stewarded by the communities most impacted.

  4. Honor Compton’s legacy. Recognize 111 Taylor as a site of trans and queer resistance, and transform it into a space of the broadest vision of justice possible, thinking seven generations ahead.