CONGRATULATIONS to contributing artists Samantha Box, Gerard H. Gaskin, Sean Coleman, Michael Roberson, Robert Sember,Richard Renaldi, Andy Warhol, Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt, Carol Polcovar, Rich Wandel, Leonard Fink, Diana Davies, Vanguard Revisited Project, The Hear Me ROAR! Project and Whose Streets, Our Streets! It was your great work that helped make these legacies visible.
THANK YOU Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson! THANK YOU Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art and the Fresh Fruit Festival! THANK YOU to everyone who voted!
And to the past, present and future queer young people on the street, WE SEE YOU, WE HEAR YOU, YOU MATTER!
“Honey, I don’t care if I never have nothing ever’ till the day I die. All I want is my freedom.”
Marsha P. Johnson, a black trans woman who was known for pioneering a movement that has had incredible long lasting systematic change. During the so called Stonewall riots (riots which broke out after the police had once again raided the lgbtq bar Stonewall Inn) in 1969, she was one of the first to begin resisting the police. Without her and other black lgbtq+ folks, we wouldn’t be celebrating pride. #HappyPrideMonth ✨
1. Sure, Marsha didn’t throw the first to throw shoes or Molotov cocktails. She still participated and started one of the first trans organizations in the country! She wasn’t the *first* but still had a major influence on the riots and subsequent organizing.
2. She dropped a purse full of bricks on a police car. That’s queen shit right there. Not “completely fabricated” at all.
At that time, NYC’s Bellevue Hospital followed prevailing thought that sexuality and gender identity that did not correspond to a narrow and binary view of normative behaviors was a sign of mental illness. Like many institutions they practiced Electroshock Therapy to “cure”bisexual as well as gay/lesbian people and mistreated LGBTQ patients who were simply there for routine medical complaints.
“the meaning of Stonewall has shifted as the assimilations in favor of a ‘we’re just like them’ gay politics have struggled against the radical activists over the legacy of the riot and the broad, multi issue based activism which accompanied it.” ~“History or Myth? Writing Stonewall” by Benjamin Shepard in Lambda Book Report;Aug/Sep2004, Vol. 13 Issue ½
Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson New York City December 20, 1970
image description: a black & white photograph of sylvia rivera and marsha p. johnson marching with a large banner on a crowded new york street. the banner reads, “street transvestites action revolutionaries.” there is a large star also on the banner.
STAR was an organization co-founded by the two, run from 1970–1973. STAR provided housing and resources to homeless LGBT youth and sex workers, and developed much of the intersectional politics in activism at the time. the money used to keep STAR running usually came out of their own pockets.
✨ Marsha P. Johnson (1945 - 1992) was a transwoman and activist and veteran of the Stonewall riots of 1969. She formed STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), a street activist group, alongside Sylvia Rivera, helped support trans and gay homeless kids and was an AIDS activist during her later years. She was once asked in court what the “P” in her name stood for, and she answered “Pay It No Mind.” Her body was found in the Hudson River, and even though it was ruled as a suicide, it is not clear how she passed away. Rest in Power, Marsha P. ✊
I want my gay rights now!-Marsha P. Johnson(NYC Pride Parade, 1973)
[ID: Gifset of black and white footage of Marsha P. Johnson being interviewed. She smiles as she speaks and is standing with two friends or supporters. She says: “Darling, I want my gay rights now! I think it’s about time the gay brothers and sisters got their rights. And especially the women.” /End ID.]
High resolution 18″ X 24″ poster of an Apsáalooke badé, Osh-Tisch (1854-1929, on the left), and their wife photographed in 1877. “Decolonize Your Luvvv” honors Indigenous Queer & Trans cultures that were respected and honored prior to European-led Genocide, Heteropatriarchy, Religion, & Colonization.
The photograph shows Osh-Tisch (Apsáalooke translation: “Finds Them and Kills Them”), and their wife in 1877. During the time period the photograph was taken, Osh-Tisch was one of the last remaining Apsáalooke badés (which would be the Western equivalent on a Trans person), and was respected and accepted within traditional Apsáalooke culture. In spite of being married to a woman, as a means to maintain balance in Apsáalooke society, Osh-Tisch was not prevented from living their life out romantically with other men.
In background of the photograph is an inserted tile image of Marsha P. Johnson & Sylvia Rivera taken at the Christopher Street Liberation Day, Gay Pride Parade, NYC. June 24, 1973. Johnson & Rivera were veterans of the Stonewall Rebellion, founders of S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), and are honored as role models for contemporary Queer/Trans rights movements.
As with all our posters, feel liberated to print out, wheatpaste, repost/regram, and disseminate at will!
Pride month is not just about celebrating who we are,
It’s about remembering and celebrating all those who have fought and even lost their lives to give us the right to be proud of who we are.
It was Marsha P Johnson who started the stonewall riots, a move that made significant strides in bringing us here today. Marsha P Johnson was a black woman. If it weren’t for her fight, we wouldn’t be here.
![bihistorygroup: [Know Your Bisexual History]: Photos from joint Street Transvestite Action Revolutio](https://64.media.tumblr.com/dab9dbb7cc9019c8079ae95eede7e59a/tumblr_mwovuolHcn1t37nr2o2_500.jpg "bihistorygroup: [Know Your Bisexual History]: Photos from joint Street Transvestite Action Revolutio")
![bihistorygroup: [Know Your Bisexual History]: Photos from joint Street Transvestite Action Revolutio](https://64.media.tumblr.com/07d40cac5ff0f0ca87d6db8ee4c94166/tumblr_mwovuolHcn1t37nr2o6_r1_640.jpg "bihistorygroup: [Know Your Bisexual History]: Photos from joint Street Transvestite Action Revolutio")
