Invite students to research the ways in which Marshas legacy is being remembered today. Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, ca. What tensions existed within the gay liberation movement? But when people are close to you and they're side, maybe they're family or people that you really respect and they don't get it, does that sting a little bit? Marsha enjoyed expressing herself through her appearance. I'm a senior and I'm a certified Johnny Byrum fan. In one account, she started the uprising by throwing a shot glass at a mirror. Solly, Meilan, New York City Monument Will Honor Transgender Activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, Smithsonianmag.org, June 3, 2019,https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-york-city-monument-will-honor-transgender-activists-marsha-p-johnson-and-sylvia-rivera-180972326/. After a boy sexually assaulted her, she stopped wearing the clothes she loved and felt most comfortable in. She was arrested over 100 times. Initially ruled a suicide, many friends questioned that conclusion and suspected foul play. Sylvia was a Puerto Rican trans woman who was also new to New York. Rivera frequently experienced homelessness and had problems with substance abuse. Looking for ideas on how you can celebrate Pride Month? Lee: You know, of course we've had this conversation around feminism and other movements before, whether women who are part of the movement are Black first or are they women first, gender first. But in the 1950s and 1960s, LGBTQ peoples rights were strictly limited. And when that doesn't happen, I mean, you're being dehumanized on two levels. You know, when I had this recent conversation with my brother, I left the conversation, you know, I was angry and I was tearful 'cause it does hurt. 1890. Marsha P. Johnson I'm Trymaine Lee. The best email in your inbox.Filled with the days best good news. They rented a dilapidated building with no electricity or running water. WebToday, historians and former friends of Marsha describe her as a trans woman. I've also been planting and reminding myself through gardening indoors, I guess, that regardless of what happens, growth is still possible. Willis: I think class affects all of it. In the 1970s, Johnson experienced a series of mental health breakdowns and spent time in and out of psychiatric hospitals. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities., On Equality: How many years has it taken people to realize that we are all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race?, On Motivation: Darling, I want my gay rights now. Though her life was cut tragically short, Marsha's legacy remains an inspiration to us all. WebMarsha P. Johnson was one of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. Our executive producer is Ellen Frankman. Young trans women like Marsha were particularly vocal that night because they felt they had nothing to left to lose. Willis, Raquel, How Sylvia Rivera Created the Blueprint for Transgender Organizing,Out Magazine,May 21, 2019,https://www.out.com/pride/2019/5/21/how-sylvia-rivera-created-blueprint-transgender-organizing. Johnson grew up in a religious family and began attending Mount Teman African Methodist Episcopal Church as a child; she remained a practicing Christian for the rest of her life. I think about our media outlets and how often we don't have spaces like this, Trymaine, where a Black trans woman can come on and be in dialogue with a Black cis man about the state of the world. TRANSCRIPT Marsha was part of a growing community of LGBTQ youth who sought acceptance in New York City. Police are treating her death as a homicide. Im a strong believer in that and thats why I try to do that for everyone I know has the virus. Marsha P. Johnson, You never completely have your rights, one person, until you all have your rights. Marsha P. Johnson, As long as gay people dont have their rights all across America, theres no reason for celebration. Marsha P. Johnson, Nobody promised you tomorrow. Marsha P. Johnson, I was no one, nobody, from Nowheresville, until I became a drag queen. Marsha P. Johnson, I always just do drag. Willis: Of course. One morning, they returned to the truck just as it was pulling away with STAR residents sleeping inside. Rivera later said of Johnson, she was like a mother to me. As Johnson had done for herself, she encouraged Rivera to love herself and her identity. She wanted to protect young transpeople living on the street by giving them a home. Lee: Raquel, thank you so much for joining me. If you walked down Christopher Street, Marsha would receive you in the manner of a gracious host. Johnson, like many other transgender women, felt they had nothing to lose. I mean, I wish I could say yes, but Black cis folks are not doing enough. And that fearless attitude exemplifies how the Black transgender activist lived her life, leading the charge for LGBTQ+ rights every step of the way and helping instigate the Stonewall Inn uprising that sparked the gay pride movement. [2] The permanent installation will be built in Greenwich Village, in a location to be determined after conversations with the community. Gertrude Kasebier, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Johnson enjoyed wearing clothes made for women and wore dresses starting at age five. So thank you very much for your time. You know? A person who identifies with the sex they were assigned at birth. Good news is coming your way! Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, mission specialist, carries her son Wilson Miles-Ochoa following the STS-96 crew return at Ellington Field. Hey, Luke. Willis: I definitely think that names like Marsha P. Johnson were forgotten intentionally. Johnson, an African American self-identified drag queen and activist, was also battling exclusion in a The troubles she experienced as a child followed her into adulthood. Raquel Willis: There's this idea that because we are having an openly different gender experience, that we deserve the abuse that we may receive. Screen excerpts from this film so that students can hear directly from Marsha and the people in her life. Even without lodgings, STAR provided a safe haven for people who had never had a place to call home. Marsha P. Johnson. National Womens History Museum. A person who was assigned male at birth but identifies as a woman. She dispensed cheer and joy. I think about just two days after George was murdered, Tony McDade was murdered in Tallahassee, Florida, a Black transgender man. She took on the name "Black Marsha," and eventually added on her famous middle initial and took her last name from a Howard Johnson restaurant she frequented. Here are 14 quotes from Johnson that capture her spirit and endless passion for LGBTQ+ rights: On Coming of Age: I was no one, nobody, from Nowheresville until I became a drag queen. Well, I know how to handle them. Look no further than our guide. Since the term transgender wasnt used during her time, she identified as gay, transvestite and as a drag queen, using the pronouns she/her. Sewall Chan, Marsha P. Johnson, Overlooked. And that's something other LGBTQ+ folks, particularly white ones, need to understand. In 1963, Rivera met Marsha P. Johnson and it changed her life. Johnson was outspoken about the risks of tackling the Mob; her roommate at the time had been lobbying to have officials with alleged Mafia ties removed from the Not long after arriving in New York, 17-year-old Marsha met 11-year-old Sylvia Rivera. Once in New York, Johnson returned to dressing in clothing made for women and adopted the full name Marsha P. Johnson; the P stood for Pay It No Mind, a phrase that became her motto. The first STAR House was in the back of an abandoned truck in Greenwich Village. Johnson and Rivera arrived at Stonewall around 2am where, Johnson said in a later interview, the place was already on fire, and there was a raid already. The riots had already started. There are many competing stories about what Johnson did during the raid on the Stonewall Inn, but it is clear she was on the front lines. How can food be used as a form of cultural memory & resistance? Rights for LGBTQ+ people were limited and sometimes ignored completely. The Importance of Dialogue, Development and Acceptance During Marshas lifetime, the term transgender was not commonly used. Always sporting a smile, Johnson was an important advocate for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, those effected by H.I.V. I actually think we're more powerful when we have numbers. The police officers ruled her death a suicide. And we need the in-between. I walked down 58th Street and the young ones were calling from the sidewalk, 'Sylvia, Sylvia, thank you, we know what you did. I mean, I think about the early feminist movement and how people like Sojourner Truth, Ida B. WebMarsha P. Search streaming video, audio, and text content for academic, public, and K-12 institutions. Compare the lives of Marsha P. Johnson and, Connect Marshas life story to other LGBTQ individuals within, One of Marshas proudest moments was with Andy Warhol. And it also of course extends to folks who are nonbinary or gender nonconforming who straddle all of these struggles. Lee: Marsha P. Johnson was one of those women. To learn more, check out the vocabulary resource guides from GLAAD: Transgender glossary and LGBTQ glossary. Lets take a journey through a deeply inspiring and Perhaps you could say that trans people may have a more drastic experience, but it's so connected to the ways that boys and men in general are told that they can't have a certain well of emotion, that they can't be intimate and have other ways of moving through the world that don't involve control and domination. and AIDS, and gay and transgender rights. And that's part of why I have an issue with the way that we have framed violence as simply something that happens from the state, something that happens from police officers who are white that overwhelmingly happens to cisgender heterosexual men. Rivera ran away from home at age 11 and became a victim of sexual exploitation around 42nd Street. We can educate you, learn the history. Well never share your email with anyone else. STAR House then moved to a dilapidated building, which they tried to fix up, but the group was evicted after eight months. They thought it was more likely that Marsha was a victim of an attack. 2022. MLA Rothberg, Emma. Trans women, particularly women of color, were regular targets of hate crimes. However, young Marsha enjoyed wearing clothing made for girls. She was an advocate for drag queens, people of color, and transgender people, fighting for their right to be seen and heard.. Marsha spent most of her life without a permanent home. MARSHA P. JOHNSON "You Gotta Have Soul !" - YouTube As one of the leaders of the Stonewall Inn uprising, the Black transgender woman was an early activist for LGBTQ+ rights in New York City. Much of Marshas life story has been pieced together through interviews featured in the documentary. Lee: On one hand, I get tired of the trope that the Black community is somehow more homophobic or more transphobic. But there's still a lot of work to be done. Transcript: Into Black Trans Liberation - MSNBC.com Currently, LGTBQ+ monuments are not among the Citys public statues. Willis: Well, you know what is interesting is we've gotta get out of this space of thinking that transgender people are having some kind of magically different gender experience. At her funeral, hundreds of people showed up at the church; it was so crowded that people stood on the street. That is a gender issue. Even though these clothes reflected her sense of self, she felt pressured to stop due to other childrens bullying and experiencing a sexual assault at the hands of a 13-year-old-boy. My name is still in story. When you hear J.K. Rowling saying that, what's your response to that? And then our families, right? Jen Carlson, Activists Install Marsha P. Johnson Monument in Christopher Park, Gothamist, August 25, 2021, https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/marsha-p-johnson-statue-bust-christopher-park, The Marsha P. Johnson Institute, https://marshap.org/, By Emma Rothberg, Ph.D. | Associate Educator, Digital Learning and Innovation. And it's not just Black trans women. The church was so full that the crowd spilled into the street. And we saw just from the turnout for the Rally for Black Trans Lives that there is momentum there also.