Pride Month

Today is the first day of Pride Month! So happy pride to all of you in the alphabet mafia. Despite how hard the road has been for you to get here, I'm glad you did and I'm proud of you. 

I want to highlight different queer representations throughout the month and thought it best to start with Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. They could easily have their own post, but I feel like their celebrations belong together because so much of the work they did, they did together.

The Stonewall Inn Uprising was the impetus for the Gay Rights Movement. It should be noted that Marsha was there and is often said to be one of the main players of that night. For any that don't know, the Stonewell Inn Uprising began on June 27th, 1969, and lasted for six days. Stonewall Inn was, and remains, a safe place for members of the LGBTQ+ community to congregate and relax, where they were allowed to be themselves. Because at that time, simply wearing clothing that didn't "belong" to your gender would get you arrested. It was illegal to serve alcohol to people even suspected of being homosexual until 1966 because they were somehow considered to be more unruly? Many bars got away with operating without liquor licenses though because of mafia ties or ownership. But public displays of homosexual affection remained very much illegal. Anyway, that night, plainclothes officers went into the Stonewall Inn and rounded up everyone inside, and marched them out into the street to make public arrests. Sick and tired of being treated like perverse criminals, the patrons and residents of the Cristopher Street neighborhood decided enough was enough and fought back. There are many accounts of people saying they saw Marsha throw the first brick. The protests lasted for days.  

The very first gay pride parade was held one year later on the anniversary of the Stonewall Inn Uprising. The uprising would not have gotten its start without a Black Trans woman to take charge. During this era, the term "trans" wasn't really a common nomenclaiture. People didn't often self-identify as trans, but rather as drag queens which is how both Marsha and Sylvia spoke of themselves. However, as time went on and their work continued they began an organization called STAR which stood for Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries which helped to advocate for trans youth and help them escape homelessness. Rivera fought tirelessly for gay rights and was even successful in getting gay rights bills enacted in New York. However, the gay community was not always as supportive of the trans community. In fact, by 1973 the trans community had been banned from attending the pride parade. In the documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson there is footage of Sylvia standing in front of a crowd at a gay pride event and talking about the trans erasure from the community and being openly booed by the people she fought so hard for. Marsha went on to work with Act Up to spread awareness about the AIDS epidemic.  

Unfortunately, Marsha was found dead in the Hudson River in 1992. Initially, the police ruled her death a suicide but the case was reopened in 2012 and remains unsolved.  Rivera honored Marsha by opening the Transy House in New York and even resurrected the STAR team and updated the name to Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries, who fought to get Transgender Rights Bills in New York.

Sylvia passed away in 2002 from complications of liver cancer. The Sylvia Rivera Law Project continues on today in her memory. Their mission is: The Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) works to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine their gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination, or violence. SRLP is a collective organization founded on the understanding that gender self-determination is inextricably intertwined with racial, social, and economic justice. Therefore, we seek to increase the political voice and visibility of low-income people and people of color who are transgender, intersex, or gender non-conforming. SRLP works to improve access to respectful and affirming social, health, and legal services for our communities. We believe that in order to create meaningful political participation and leadership, we must have access to basic means of survival and safety from violence.

To know queer history is to honor Black and Brown trans women, who are still often disenfranchised in the LGBTQ+ community and whose lives are disproportionately more at risk than any other group in our society. The risk is even greater when those women are sex workers, as both Marsha and Sylvia were. Happy pride, put some respect on their names. Know your history. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤎💙💕🤍