Cooper Do-Nuts Riot Print

Description

“Cooper Do-nuts Riot, 1959.” By Kalie McGuirl. 9″ x 12″ relief print on Strathmore paper. Created as part of the Queer Ancestors Project, 2023.

The Cooper Do-nuts Riot occurred in downtown LA in May 1959, ten years before the far better known Stonewall Riots. Information on the riot is somewhat hard to come by (for example, the exact date has been lost to history) but it is generally agreed that it occurred when some cops came to the 24-hour donut shop, which was surrounded by gay bars, and attempted to arrest five people: two drag queens, two male sex workers, and one young man cruising. Police brutality and harassment of LGBTQ+ people was very common at this time, particularly if the clothes they were wearing did not match the gender on their ID. The cops attempted to push all five people into a single cop car, but someone refused to get in. People in the donut shop threw hot coffee and donuts at police, forcing them to run away. This beautiful moment — the reversal of donuts from a cop’s treat to cop’s terror — is what is depicted in this print.

The cops left and came back with reinforcements, turning the incident into a full scale street fight. Many arrests were made, but the original five people arrested were able to escape. Riots like the Cooper Donuts Riot show the full and rich history of queer resistance.