“Darling, I want my gay rights now. I think it’s about time that my gay brothers and sisters got their rights. Especially the women!” — Marsha P. Johnson
Marsha P. Johnson was known for her lighthearted and humorous approach to activism.
A joyous spirit, she dreamed of the day when queer people would be allowed to live and love freely. The drag queen and transgender icon played a crucial role in the Stonewall uprising, co-founded Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries (STAR), an organization to support youth, and dedicated her life to fighting for gay liberation.
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The fight for equality in America has come a long way since the Stonewall Riots of 1969. Marriage equality is now the law of the land; gay people can adopt, serve in the military, and donate blood. With all of this progress, it’s easy to believe that the fight is over and that we’ve accomplished everything we wanted.
Marsha P. Johnson is a big part of our legacy. Her face is painted on murals across the country, printed on pride-themed merchandise, and etched into monuments in her honor. Still, I can’t help but feel like her work has been taken for granted. It sometimes feels like we learned nothing from Marsha P. Johnson.
If she were alive today, would we protect her? Or would her struggles be ignored, like so many Black trans women today?
There have been 25 reported murders of transgender people in America this year alone. Nearly half of them were Black, according to the Human Rights Campaign. In 2019, the American Medical Association declared violence against transgender people an epidemic. These stories go vastly underreported and largely ignored, similar to how Marsha P. Johnson was treated when she lived.
Despite decades of activism and community organizing, trans women like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera got very little in return. During the 1970 Christopher Street Liberation Day March, now known as the Pride Parade, cisgender gay men told Marsha and Sylvia that they had to march in the back of the crowd.
The men believed that trans people hurt the image of gay men. This sentiment still exists in the LGBTQ community today. This kind of mentality has allowed Black transgender women to suffer while the world celebrates our so-called progress.
While there have been advancements for LGBTQ people, these individuals face disproportionate challenges and disparities due to the intersection of their racial and gender identities. According to HRC, Black transgender people are three times more likely to live in poverty than average Americans. They are less likely to have access to healthcare, more likely to be exposed to HIV, and are at a high risk of suicide.
Black trans people deserve to be supported in the way that they have supported us all in the past. Black trans people, like Marsha, have always been the core of the Gay Liberation Movement. Now that gay people have made some progress, it’s time to give back and support the Black trans community the way that Marsha would have wanted.
If Marsha were alive today, she would want us to follow her lead and fight against oppression. She would encourage us to embrace intersectionality and work to address overlapping forms of oppression simultaneously, making sure that organizations support disabled and undocumented trans people.
Despite experiencing homelessness and having to resort to survival sex work, Marsha believed that there was always someone who had it worse. Her activism relied on prioritizing the most vulnerable in our community—she volunteered for organizations that support unsheltered trans people. She understood that donating clothes and money would keep trans folx safe and off the street.
Marsha wasn’t just strong; she was also bold. It wasn’t enough to be loud; she wanted to be noticed. She became known for her elaborate outfits and handmade flower crowns. Marsha knew being seen was important; it empowered others and encouraged them to join her fight. We must do the same and be loud in our support of Black trans people. We have to let the world know that we stand with them.
Because this isn’t just their fight, it’s all of ours.
inbama
The g ay rights movement began with Karl Heinrich Ulrichs in Germany in 1867.
bbg372
Marsha P. Johnson did not identify as transgender, and she did not play a crucial role in the Stonewall Uprising. She was not even present until late into the second night of the riots, and Sylvia Rivera was not even there at all.
Johnson and Rivera were not allowed at the forefront of the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, because they were there to advocate for transvestites and sex workers, not Gay Liberation.
Stop euhemerizing these two.
inbama
Yep.
Appropriation of gay history.
Ken A.
Yep, their best friends who are living even stated that fact that both
Marsha and Sylvia didn’t identify as transgender or transexual but for some reason no one can get it to sink in.
inbama
Hetero TVs created the story, so our young ones would grow up thinking we “owe” them.
Fname Optional Lname
Marsha is on video acknowledging that she did not have the desire to be a woman. Yes she was very involved in S.T.A.R. with Sylvia and has certainly earned her place in queer history but she did not throw the first brick at Stonewall and she did not identify as trans. We cannot rewrite history to fit a narrative that we are comfortable with. The proof is out there, most never do any research and just get their “facts” from social media
daveku69
After my doctor’s appointment, I went for blood work and then to Stonewall. The year was 1991. I was sitting next to Malcom, and we struck up a conversation. We became casual friends until hid tragic death. The question of ‘would we protect her today’? Absolutely not. The loud fringe would yell an criticize her. He was not trans. Never said he was Marsha was a caricature that he played. Not all men who dress in drag are trans. I’m sure he would have supported the trans movement, but out of respect and dignity that well all deserve; and not through force.