Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson. Gay and trans liberation activist (1945-1992).

"As long as my people don't have their rights across America, there's no reason for celebration." , - Marsha P. Johnson

, Marsha P. Johnson was a Black gay and trans liberation activist, drag queen performer, actress, and sex worker. She was a survivor who struggled with mental illness and she was a person living with HIV/AIDS. The "P" in her name stands for "pay it no mind," which is what she told people who asked about many aspects of her life, including her gender. While she was often mistreated by mainstream society and even her queer community, Marsha was known in the West Village for her charisma, joyfulness, and generosity, while living against great odds. Many called her a saint: Saint Marsha., Marsha graduated high school in 1963 and she briefly enrolled in the U.S. Navy before moving to New York City "with fifteen dollars and a bag of clothes." While Marsha returned to visit Elizabeth often, she found a new home in the West Village, as did many TLGBQ+ people, and made ends meet through sex work, one of the only ventures available to many within the gay community at the time. "Sexual deviancy laws" in New York City essentially made being gay or trans illegal, and police frequently targeted TLGBQ+ people. When the street around the Stonewall Inn erupted in rebellion in 1969, Marsha P. Johnson was there. In the days that followed, Marsha moved to the forefront of the Gay Liberation Movement, including co-founding STAR, now known as STARR: Strategic Trans Alliance for Radical Reform, with Sylvia Rivera., In 1980, Marsha took shelter in the New Jersey home of Randy Wicker, a pre-Stonewall TLGBQ+ activist. Marsha stayed with Randy until July 6, 1992. On that day, Marsha's body was tragically found in the Hudson River. The police ruled her death a suicide, but it is widely believed that Marsha was murdered. While her case was reopened in 2012 at the insistence of activists, it remains unsolved. Marsha's death is a reminder of the increased risk of violence that Black trans women and the TLGBQ+ community face, even as Marsha P. Johnson's legacy is celebrated., [Captions:] , Marsha P. Johnson called for "Power To The People" outside Bellevue Hospital in demonstrations led by the Gay Liberation Front in 1970. Sylvia Rivera was with her as well. At the time, Bellevue practiced highly controversial treatments such as the dangerous and now discredited gay conversion therapy in its psychiatric ward. Bellevue would later open two Pride Health Centers in 2019., Marsha P. Johnson marched in the 1971 Christopher Street Liberation Day march as she had the year before. Liberation Day commemorated the Stonewall Rebellion of 1969 and later became the NYC Pride Parade. Marsha marched every year., Marsha and Sylvia Rivera, lifetime friends, joined three days of protests at City Hall in 1973 after City Council voted down a bill protecting homosexual people while overlooking protections for trans people.