In 2002, Sylvia Rivera died from liver cancer at 51 years old. After working so hard for the LGBTQ+ movement and being repeatedly betrayed, she stepped away from activism for 20 years.
This became known as her “Y’all Better Quiet Down” speech, and despite the importance of her message, she was booed by the crowd while she spoke. At a gay pride rally in 1973, she forced her way onto the stage and expressed her passion for including trans and other marginalized people in the gay rights movement. Sylvia Rivera had a problem with the fact that the gay liberation movement was catered towards liberating gay and lesbian, white, middle-class people, so she advocated for the movement to be more inclusive of marginalized groups within the LGBTQ+ community (including people of color, transgender people, poor or homeless people, and incarcerated people). One year later in 1970, she co-founded STAR, a shelter for homeless transgender youth, with activist Marsha P. A few weeks later, Rivera co-founded the Gay Liberation Front, a collection of gay liberation groups that fought against homophobia, capitalism, militarism, racism, and sexism. Rivera was 17 years old when she helped lead the Stonewall Riots she claims to have thrown the second Molotov cocktail in protest of the police raiding the Stonewall Inn. She was taken in by a group of drag queens, and began identifying as a drag queen, herself. By age 11, she ran away from home and became a sex worker near Times Square. Rivera was raised by her grandmother, who beat her for her feminine expression. Sylvia Rivera was a Latina trans woman who was a lifelong trans rights activist in New York City. This monument will be the first permanent, public piece of artwork in the world recognizing transgender women. In 2019, it was announced that a monument honoring Johnson and Rivera is going to be built in New York City, just blocks away from the Stonewall Inn. Her death was ruled a suicide, but the circumstances surrounding her death were not investigated, leading many activists to believe that she was murdered. Unfortunately, Johnson’s life was cut short in 1992 when her body was found in the Hudson River. STAR was revolutionary on a number of levels STAR was the first LGBTQ+ youth shelter in North America and it was the first organization in the US led by trans women of color. Johnson and Rivera were often homeless themselves, so they wanted to create a safe place for trans youth to sleep at night. STAR was a shelter for homeless transgender youth that Johnson and Rivera funded by working as sex workers at night. Johnson co-founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) with trans activist Sylvia Rivera. In 1970, one year after the Stonewall Riots, Marsha P. At 23 years old, Johnson was also one of the leaders of the Stonewall Riots.
She was a drag performer and sex worker who poured all of her energy into advocating for trans and homeless people/youth, sex workers, people living with HIV/AIDS, and incarcerated people. Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson was a Black trans woman who helped lead the LGBTQ+ movement in New York City for nearly 25 years. Their bravery and absolute refusal to accept anything less than liberation sparked a movement that needs to remember who led the charge. As Pride month comes to an end, let us not forget that the struggle continues. Because of transphobia and anti-Blackness, these women often faced even more discrimination as they fought. These women cared for their community and fought for all LGBTQ+ people to have the freedom to live as they are. The following four women of color were key leaders in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights. While the events that sparked the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation as we know it today get some attention, we often forget that the movement was led by trans women of color and Black lesbians.