Growing up, I was never given history about most minority groups and it wasn’t until I was 15 years old that I had heard of the influential Marsha P. Johnson. It wasn’t until I had taken a women’s studies class when I was 16 that I gained further knowledge about her.
Not only was she born in 1945, a time where queer people were not supported, but she also grew up when African American people were still segregated in public spaces.
Marsha P. Johnson was assigned male at birth and had six siblings. Her father worked for General Motors in Linden, New Jersey and her mother was a housekeeper.
She grew up in the Mount Teman African Methodist Episcopal Church and continued to practice Christianity throughout her life.
When she was 5, she began to wear dresses but experienced bullying and sexual assault, which prompted her to stop expressing herself fully.
After graduating high school, she moved to New York City with one bag of clothes and $15. She began describing herself as a gay person and started wearing clothes made for women. At this time, she also began her drag queen career.
Shortly after moving to New York City, she met Sylvia Rivera, a Puerto Rican transgender girl. Sylvia often said that Marsha was like a mother to her and she always encouraged her to show her identity with pride.
She did not own a permanent residence and had to sleep in public spaces as well as in friends’ houses and in hotels. She turned to sex work during this time as her source of income.
On June 28, 1969, she was at the Stonewall Inn where many gay men were being arrested. There were riots happening around her and she knew that she had to take action.
Sylvia and Marsha led a series of protests, including the first pride parade in 1970. They also worked to build community for those in the LGBTQ+ community through their organization STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries). (Note: at this time, transvestite was the word used to describe transgender people.) Both Marsha and Sylvia wanted to see queer people living without fear and with equal rights.
In the 1970’s, Marsha began experiencing mental health hardships and went in and out of psychiatric hospitals. She continued engaging in sex work but in 1990 was diagnosed with H.I.V. She spoke about it in June of 1992 and said that people should not be afraid of those with H.I.V.
In July 1992, she was found to have drowned in the Hudson River. In 2020, Brooklyn, New York named a waterfront park for her.
Not only was Marsha P. Johnson an incredible advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, but she fought through both hardships with this part of her identity as well as with her identity as a Black woman. She was truly a leader in so many ways.