SF supes panel OKs landmark expansion for Castro Theatre; intersection near Compton's riot
A proposal aimed at protecting the historic interior of the Castro Theatre gained the backing of a San Francisco supervisors' committee Monday, while a separate effort to recognize the historical significance of a Tenderloin intersection that was the site of an early fight over the rights of the neighborhood's transgender residents also won support from the panel.The Board of Supervisors' Land Use and Transportation Committee discussed the two sites significant to LGBTQ history and culture at its May 23 meeting and voted to advance the one regarding the theater for consideration by the full board Tuesday.
The intersection landmarking request should be voted on by the supervisors at their June 7 meeting, as they are off next week due to the Memorial Day holiday.Land use committee members Supervisors Myrna Melgar (District 7), Aaron Peskin (District 3), and Dean Preston (District 5) unanimously voted in support of the resolutions to enhance the landmark designation for the Castro Theatre and to establish city landmark designation for the intersection of Taylor and Turk streets, formerly the site of Compton's Cafeteria where a groundbreaking riot by transgender people tired of being harassed by police took place in August 1966, three years before the Stonewall riots in New York City.The enhanced landmark designation for the Castro Theatre, which was already designated a city landmark in 1977, would take into account the interior of the fabled movie palace, offering additional protections to the theater.
Put forward by gay District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, the resolution is intended to offer additional protection to the historic site.
