Marsha P. Johnson

Born in New Jersey in 1945, Marsha P. Johnson was an African-American trans-woman and drag artist, known for her prominent activism within the LGBTQ+ community and credited as one of the key instigators of the Stonewall Riots in 1969. Today, Johnson is recognised as on of the key pioneers for the Gay Rights movement, and an icon of our community. 

Johnson was raised in a strict christian home in New Jersey, which made her childhood difficult as she experimented with cross-dressing in her early years, being quickly reprimanded and forced to hide her queer identity. After graduating high school in the 1960s, Johnson fled home and moved to Greenwhich Village, New York City.

 At the time Greenwhich Village was a sanctity for many LGBTQ individuals becoming the home to a number of secret Gay nightclubs. In the 1960s, homosexual relations were still illegal in the USA, and criminal statue allowed police to arrest people who were wearing less than three articles of gendered clothing. The New York State Liquor Authority penalised and shut down nightclubs that were serving alcohol to known and suspected homosexuals. These laws meant that safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals were scarce, resorting to sanctuary in underground nightclubs. Crime syndicates in the area saw this emerging scene as a money making opportunity in order to cater to the homosexual clientele, who were seeking places where they could express themselves without fear of persecution. In the 1960s the majority of Greenwhich village was owned by the Genovese crime family, an organised crime family whom operated in New York City as part of the Mafia. In 1967 they bought The Stonewall Inn, previously a heterosexual nightclub, which was renovated and reopened as a gay club in 1967. The Stonewall Inn quickly became one of the most popular bars in Greenwhich Village, the club welcomed drag queens, who were badly received at other gay bars in the village, allowed dancing, which was banned in most other clubs, and was cheap enough to be afforded by homeless and runaway LGBTQ+ youth. However, as the bar was unregulated, the Genovese crime family were able to cut costs anywhere they saw fit. The stonewall Inn had no fire exits, no running water behind the bar, poor toilet facilities and watered down drinks. It was also rumoured that the family was blackmailing it's wealthier patrons into keeping their sexuality a secret. Police raids were still a regular occurrence, however mafia links with corrupt cops often meant the club was usually tipped off prior to the raids, meaning illegal alcohol could be hidden and patrons could be made aware. 

Marsha P. Johnson and fellow transwoman and activist, Sylvia Rivera

After moving to New York, Johnson struggled financially, being homeless she resorted to sex work for extra money. She was often arrested, stating that she stopped counting after the 100th time. However, this didn't affect her spirit, becoming a prominent figure in the Greenwhich Village queer scene. She became a popular drag queen, crafting her costumes from garments found in thrift shops, and joining popular drag theatre company Hot Peaches. Friends described her as bold and eccentric, claiming the P in her name stood for 'Pay no mind.' Her outfits were known to be outlandish, with shimmering robes, plastic heels, bright wigs, and artificial flowers and fruits in her hair. She was known to many as a drag mother and was committed to helping LGBTQ homeless youth.

I was no one, nobody, from nowheresville. Until I became a drag queen. That's what made me in New York, that's what made me in New Jersey, that's what made me in the world.

On the 28th of June 1969, police raided Stonewall Inn, without tipping off the Genovese family beforehand. Officers seized alcohol, roughed up patrons and staff, arrested thirteen people, and took cross dressing patrons into the toilets to check their sex. . Fed up with constant police harassment, punters began to resist police intervention. Marsha P. Johnson, who was 23 at the time,  was said to have been one of the first patrons to resist arrest. Things began to get out of hand when Storme DeLarverle, a lesbian woman, was hit over the head with a bottle by an officer after complaining her handcuffs were too tight. Trans woman of colour, Sylvia Rivera is rumoured to have thrown the first bottle at officers, encouraging others to also throw bottles, pennies and stones at the officers. A riot began and police officers and news journalists were forced to barricade themselves inside of the inn itself, using an upturned station wagon. Protesters promptly set the inn on fire. Although fire department and the riot squad managed to douse the flames, the riots continued and turned into marches and protests lasting for the following five days, these riots sometimes consisted of thousands of people, both members of the community and sympathisers and onlookers. All the while Johnson was a part of the riots. 

The Stonewall riots became a catalyst for the gay rights movement, encouraging new organisations to arise such as The Gay Liberation Front, GLAAD and PFLAG. A year later the community marched once more through New York City in commemoration of the one year anniversary of the riots, this is said to have been the first pride march. Progress began to come to light in the following years after the riots and LGBTQ+ life began to change. In 1973 the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. Things began to improve for LGBTQ+ people and homosexuality began to become more widely accepted, however, it wouldn't be officially decriminalised in the USA until thirty-three years later in 2003.

Marsha, however, remained a prominent figure in the LGBTQ+ community, continuing to fight for the rights of her community. In 1970 she formed STAR (Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries) with her fellow transwoman, drag queen and activist friend, Sylvia Rivera. The organisation provided shelter, food and clothing for transgender youth in NYC, Chicago, California and England before being disbanded in 1973. She was also a prominent AIDS activist, being active in protests and meetings of the AIDS advocacy organisation, ACT UP. She was recorded in a 1972 interview stating that her goal was to "see gay people liberated and free and to have equal rights that other people have in America. We believe in picking up the gun, starting a revolution if necessary"  

Johnson suffered from mental illness, having a series of breakdowns both in and out of psychiatric institutions in the 1970s. Yet said, "I may be crazy but that don't make me wrong". 

In an interview in 1992, Johnson came out to have been HIV positive for the previous two years, several days later she was seen for the last time before going missing for a fortnight. On the 6th of July, 1992, her body was pulled from the Hudson River, New York City. Her death was immediately ruled as a suicide by the police, despite pushes for further investigation by friends and acquaintances in the community. In 2012 the case was reopened and still remains open today. 

Today, Johnson remains one of the most prominent figures in LGBTQ+ history and is widely recognised as one of the most important women in the Gay Rights Movement. Her unapologetic and relentless attitude to LGBTQ+ rights is an attitude we should all take with us, and never stop fighting for our rights around the world. We must also carry her in our hearts each Pride march, as we wouldn't be able to march with pride in our identities today without her influence.

As long as gay people don't have their rights all across America, there is no reason for celebration. 

Bibliography

LGBT Rights Milestones Fast Facts 

https://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/19/us/lgbt-rights-milestones-fast-facts/index.html

Author: Unknown 

Published: 18/02/2019

Accessed: 01/03/2019

Biography: Marsha P. Johnson 

https://www.biography.com/people/marsha-p-johnson-112717

Author: Edition.com Editors

Publisher: A & E Television Networks

Published: 14/12/2017

Accessed: 04/03/2019

Overlooked: Marsha P Johnson

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/obituaries/overlooked-marsha-p-johnson.html

Author: Sewell Chan 

Publisher: New York Times

Published: 08/03/2018

Accessed: 05/03/2019

Stonewall Riots

https://www.britannica.com/event/Stonewall-riots

Author: Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica 

Published: 21/06/2018

Accessed: 04/03/2019