One evening in May 1959, some fed-up drag queens, hustlers and other customers pushed back, barraging officers with hot coffee and half-eaten crullers. Outnumbered, police fled but called for backup, and arrests were made. John Rechy, author of the landmark 1963 gay novel “City of Night,” has recalled seeing coffee cups fly.
As Los Angeles prepares to commemorate the long-gone Cooper Do-nuts, accounts of a renowned 1959 uprising at one of its stores are being called into question.