LGBTQ+ Black History Month Day 3: Marsha P. Johnson

Number 3, Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson
Born June 27, 1944 – July 6, 1992
Leader of Stonewall Riots*, Transgender Advocate, and more!

"Marsha "Pay it No Mind" Johnson was a Greenwich Village artists from the 1960s to 1990s. Her legacy is grounded in her compassion for the trans community and her dedication to LGBT visibility and equality. Marsha worked alongside Sylvia Rivera, co-founding the organization Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries (STAR) and the STAR House to provide resources to and advocate for disadvantaged young trans women and drag queens. Marsha was one of numerous trans advocates involved in the Stonewall riots of 1969. Despite such contribution to the historic events, many gay groups of the era excluded the trans community from their efforts, which left Marsha both frustrated with the state of the movement and further determined to work on behalf of her trans peers."

"Marsha P. Johnson was a Black Trans Woman whose efforts for the queer community and overall essence of love and self acceptance in the face of ridicule touched the hearts of many. Marsha P. Johnson was a pivotal part of the Stonewall Riots, being at the epicenter of it all, (which isn’t always illustrated). She was noted as the person who “really started it all”. The stonewall riots really sparked queer and especially trans activism, but also essentially birthed what we now know as the Pride Parades. Another reason to remember to not erase the “T” in LGBTQ rights."

"It really doesn't matter if you ain't got soul."

-Marsha P. Johnson

*The StoneWall Riots: "In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. Such raids were not unusual in the late 1960s, an era when homosexual sex was illegal in every state but Illinois. That night, however, the street erupted into violent protests and demonstrations that lasted for the next six days. The Stonewall riots, as they came to be known, marked a major turning point in the modern gay civil rights movement in the United States and around the world. "

Info from: glaad.org, tumblr, pbs.org