The Women of Stonewall: Hvordan Marsha P. Johnson og andre oprørte for rettigheder

Det er en vanskelig tid for LGBTQ -samfundet i dette land, og vi ønsker alle at støtte vores kære i lyset af fare og kamp. Som et resultat er det trøstende, at Pride Month har givet en meget tiltrængt følelse af samfund, trøst og glæde i år. En del af at støtte LGBTQ -samfundet ud over afstemningen er simpelthen at gøre en indsats for at uddanne os selv. At lære historien bag Pride Month, hvad denne gang repræsenterer, og de mennesker, der banede vejen, er en fantastisk måde at gøre det på.

28. juni markerer jubilæet for Stonewall -optøjer. Dette år markerer 54 år siden protesterne for LGBTQ -rettigheder. I løbet af oprørstidspunktet kunne New York -barer ikke have licenser til at tjene homoseksuelle mennesker. Stonewall -optøjer var et svar på et politiangreb i en homoseksuel bar i New York, Stonewall Inn, hvor tretten mennesker blev arresteret. De fleste af os har sandsynligvis hørt om Marsha P. Johnson, den sorte transkønne kvinde, der var i spidsen for oprørene tilbage i 1969 og indledte følgelig den moderne LGBTQ -rettighedsbevægelse. Selvfølgelig var Johnson dog ikke alene om at udløse denne begivenhed. For at fejre jubilæet for denne historiske dag fremhæver vi nogle af de kvinder, der var afgørende for protesterne.

Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnsonwas a well-known gay liberation activist throughout her life, as well as a sex worker and a drag performer. She grew up in New Jersey where she was a victim of bullying and sexual assault. The 'P' in her name stood for 'pay it no mind,' her motto. She was just 23 years old when she was on the front lines fighting against the police at the Stonewall Inn raid. There is some confusion over Johnson's exact role in the riots: Some say that she was the first one to throw a brick at the police, effectively beginning the riots, while she said that the riots had already begun when she arrived on the scene. Regardless of how she first got involved, she continued the protests that took place in the days that followed.

Johnson forblev engageret i sin aktivisme resten af ​​sit liv. Et år efter Stonewall grundlagde hun Star (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) med medaktivist og ven, Sylvia Rivera. Star var et hjemløst husly for unge transkønne folk, som Johnson og Rivera finansierede sig selv. Det var det første LGBTQ -ungdomshylt, der eksisterede i Nordamerika, såvel som den første organisation, der nogensinde blev startet af trans kvinder i farve i USA.

Sylvia Rivera

Sylvia Rivera was just 17 years old when she acted as a leader of the Stonewall Riots, but she had already lived a life of activism. Rivera was a Latina trans woman whose grandmother raised her. Her grandmother physically abused her for behavior that she deemed gender-nonconforming. Consequently, Rivera was only 11 years old when she ran away from home. She headed to Times Square, where she became a sex worker and met Marsha P. Johnson and a group of drag queens who welcomed her.

According to Rivera, she was the second person to throw a Molotov cocktail at the police on the night of Stonewall. In the wake of the protests, Rivera then co-founded the Gay Liberation Front, which fought for gay and women's rights among other causes. A year later, she co-founded STAR with Marsha P. Johnson. She spent her life advocating for more marginalized groups to be highlighted in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, rather than its focus on white middle-class members of the community. She famously spoke about this in a speech at a pride rally that became well-known as her 'Y'all Better Quiet Down' speech, per YouTube .

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

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Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is a Black trans woman who fought for LGBTQ+ rights all her life. She grew up in Chicago, where she struggled with her gender identity –– often trying on her mother's clothes at home but not revealing her female identity to the outside world. Griffin-Gracy was a regular at the Stonewall Inn, and she took part in the riots. The first night, a police officer involved in the raid broke her jaw, leaving her unconscious. She was then taken into custody, where she stayed for the next five years.

Efter sin frigivelse fortsatte hun med at gå ind for kvinder i farver, der havde lidt af politiets brutalitet og var fængslet. Hun blev i sidste ende administrerende direktør for Transgender, Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP.) Hun grundlagde senere House of GG (Griffin-Gracy Education Retreat Major! Følger sit liv og aktivisme og går i detaljer om alt det, hun opnåede.

Stormé Delaverie

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Selvom det aldrig vil være kendt med sikkerhed, mener mange, at Stormé Delarverie var den første person, der aktivt begyndte at kæmpe ved Stonewall -optøjer. I et interview med New York Times , hendes ven delte, 'Ingen ved, hvem der kastede den første slag, men det ryktes, at hun gjorde det, og hun sagde, at hun gjorde det.' Hun var på Stonewall Inn, da oprøret startede, og en politibetjent skubbede hende, på hvilket tidspunkt hun stansede ham i ansigtet. Hun blev derefter angrebet og håndjernet af flere officerer, hvoraf den ene ramte hende over hovedet med en stafettpind.

Delarverie var biracial og voksede op i syd, hvor hendes sorte mor var hendes hvide fars tjener. Hun flyttede til Chicago for at undslippe syd i en alder af 18, hvor hun delte sin identitet som lesbisk med omverdenen. Der grundlagde hun Jewel Box Revue, som var det første Touring Drag Company i Nordamerika, der omfattede folk af forskellige racer. Hun var den eneste trækkonge på showene. Hendes aktivisme fortsatte efter Stonewall, og hun blev kendt som Rosa -parkerne i LGBTQ -samfundet for sit arbejde og hendes vigtige rolle i Stonewall -optøjer.