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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How Sylvia Rivera Fought to Make the Gay Liberation Movement More Inclusive
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." 1951–2002 Sylvia Rivera was one of the most influential activists in the Gay Liberation Movement of the 1960s and '70s. A drag queen and transgender woman, Rivera was a key figure in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and later cofounded the Gay Liberation Front, which became a leading group in the movement. She also co-created the transgender rights organization STAR with fellow LGBTQ activist Marsha P. Johnson. Rivera died of cancer in 2002 at age 50.$7.15 at FULL NAME: Sylvia RiveraBORN: July 2, 1951DIED: February 19, 2002BIRTHPLACE: New York, New YorkASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer Sylvia Rivera was born on July 2, 1951, in the Bronx borough of New York City. Rivera, who was assigned male at birth, was of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan descent. She had a troubled childhood starting with her father's abandonment shortly after her birth. As a toddler, she was orphaned when her mother died by suicide. Her grandmother stepped in to raise her, but Rivera was rejected and beaten for her effeminate behavior. At age 11, she ran away from home and became a victim of child sexual exploitation. While living on the streets, Rivera met a group of drag queens who welcomed her into their fold. It was with their support that she took the name Sylvia and began identifying as a drag queen. Later in life, she considered herself transgender, though she disliked labels. Against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement, the Women's Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, Rivera's activism began to take shape. In June 1969, at age 17, she took part in the famous Stonewall Riots by allegedly throwing the second molotov cocktail in protest to a police raid of the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan. The six-day event was one of the major catalysts of the gay liberation movement, and to further push the agenda forward, Rivera cofounded the Gay Liberation Front the next month. In later interviews, Rivera reminisced about her special place in history. 'We were the frontliners. We didn't take no shit from nobody. We had nothing to lose,' she said. Along with the establishment of the Gay Liberation Front, Rivera teamed up with friend Marsha P. Johnson to cofound STAR—officially the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries—in 1970. The group met regularly to organize and discuss political issues affecting the trans community. Soon after, the activists founded STAR House in Manhattan's East Village to provide food, clothing, and housing for LGBTQ youth in need. Like Rivera, Johnson had also been homeless as a teenager. River was only 19 years old at the time. Later, she recalled that she and Johnson had 'decided it was time to help each other and help our other kids.' Defiant of labels, Rivera confounded many in the mainstream gay liberation movement because of her own diverse and complex background. She was poor, trans, a drag queen, a person of color, a former sex worker, and someone who also experienced drug addiction, incarceration, and homelessness. For all of these reasons, Rivera fought for not only gay and trans rights but also for racial, economic, and criminal justice issues. But the gay middle-class white men and lesbian feminists didn't seem to understand or share her passion for uplifting marginalized groups within the larger LGBTQ community. Angered by the lack of inclusion, Rivera delivered her fiery 'Ya'll Better Quiet Down' speech at the 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day Rally in Washington Square Park. Amid boos from the crowd, she said: 'You all tell me, go and hide my tail between my legs.I will no longer put up with this shit.I have been beaten.I have had my nose broken.I have been thrown in jail.I have lost my job.I have lost my gay liberation, and you all treat me this way?What the f––'s wrong with you all?Think about that!' Eager to protect the rights of trans people, Rivera advocated for the passage of New York City's Gay Rights Bill in the 1970s, which aimed to prevent discrimination in housing, employment, and public accommodations. She was even arrested while petitioning in Times Square. Although trans people were initially included in discussions about the bill, the final version passed in 1986 only prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. 'They have a little backroom deal without inviting Miss Sylvia and some of the other trans activists to this backroom deal with these politicians. The deal was, 'You take them out, we'll pass the bill,'' Rivera later explained. Feeling betrayed by the movement she had fought so long and hard for, Rivera left the city and disappeared from activism for many years. It was around this time that she started a catering business in Tarrytown, New York. Rivera eventually returned to fight for trans issues starting in the mid-1990s amid cultural conversations around issues like gay marriage and LGBTQ people serving in the military. She joined ACT UP, or the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, during the HIV/AIDS crisis. Although she wasn't a founding member, she participated in protests and demonstrations with the organization in New York City, with the aim of raising awareness of AIDS and fighting for better treatment of people living with the disease. She also began working as food pantry director at Metropolitan Community Church. On the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, in 1994, Rivera was given a place of honor in New York City's pride parade. Following a suicide attempt in May 1995, she reflected on the on her place in the gay rights movement. 'The movement had put me on the shelf, but they took me down and dusted me off,' Rivera told The New York Times. 'Still, it was beautiful. I walked down 58th Street, and the young ones were calling from the sidewalk, 'Sylvia, Sylvia, thank you, we know what you did.' After that, I went back on the shelf. It would be wonderful if the movement took care of its own.' After years of living on the streets, in 1997, Rivera moved into Transy House, a collective in Brooklyn that provided housing to trans people. It was there that she met her partner Julia Murray. The two were close friends for a long time before they began dating in 1999. 'She's a person that has made my life different,' Rivera said of Murray to The New York Times that June. 'She's helped me—I'm not doing drugs, and I'm not drinking so much. It's just that we're happy together.' The couple stayed together until Rivera's death in 2002. On February 19, 2002, Rivera died from liver cancer at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in New York City. In honor of her activism in the gay and trans community, The Sylvia Rivera Law Project was founded just months after her death. The organization provides legal aid to trans, intersex, and gender-nonconforming individuals, especially people of color. The pioneering activist remains a pivotal figure in the history of the LGBTQ rights movement who ensured trans issues weren't overlooked. Rivera is the only transgender person included in the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian. We were the frontliners. We didn't take no shit from nobody. We had nothing to lose. The movement had put me on the shelf, but they took me down and dusted me off. Hell hath no fury like a drag queen scorned. We have to do it because we can no longer stay invisible. We have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are. We have to show the world that we are numerous. I'm glad I was in the Stonewall riot. I remember when someone threw a Molotov cocktail, I thought: 'My god, the revolution is here. The revolution is finally here!' Before I die, I will see our community given the respect we deserve. I'll be damned if I'm going to my grave without having the respect this community deserves. I want to go to wherever I go with that in my soul and peacefully say I've finally overcome. Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! You Might Also Like Nicole Richie's Surprising Adoption Story The Story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Her Mother Queen Camilla's Life in Photos
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
From Stonewall to now: LGBTQ+ elders on navigating fear in dark times
Karla Jay remembers joining the second night of street protests during the 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City. For her, and for so many other LGBTQ+ people, something had shifted: People were angry. They didn't want things to go back to normal — because normal meant police raids. Normal meant living underground. It meant hiding who they were at their jobs and from their families. They wanted a radical change. Radical change meant organizing. Jay joined a meeting with the Gay Liberation Front, which would become the incubator for the modern LGBTQ+ political movement and proliferate in chapters across the country. At those meetings, she remembers discussing what freedom could look like. Holding hands with a lover while walking down the street, without fear of getting beaten up, one person said. Another said they'd like to get married. At the time, those dreams seemed impossible. Jay, now 78, is worried that history will repeat itself. She's worried that LGBTQ+ people will be put in the dark again by the draconian policies of a second Trump administration. 'Are things worse than they were before Stonewall? Not yet,' she said. 'It's certainly possible that people will have to go back to underground lives, that trans people will have to flee to Canada, but it's not worse yet.' The 19th spoke with several LGBTQ+ elders, including Jay, about what survival looks like under a hostile political regime and what advice they would give to young LGBTQ+ people right now. Many states protect LGBTQ+ people through nondiscrimination laws that ensure fair access to housing, public accommodations and employment. Supreme Court precedent does the same through Bostock v. Clayton County. Other states have passed shield laws to protect access to gender-affirming care for trans people. But to Jay, a cisgender lesbian, it all still feels precarious. The Trump administration is trying to make it harder for transgender Americans to live openly and safely, and lawmakers in more than a handful of states want to undermine marriage equality. 'We have forgotten that the laws are written to protect property and not to protect people. They're written to protect White men and their property, and historically, women and children were their property,' she said. 'To expect justice from people who write laws to protect themselves has been a fundamental error of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans community.' To fight back, LGBTQ+ Americans need to organize, Jay said. That starts with thinking locally — supporting local artists, independent stores and small presses, as well as LGBTQ+ organizations taking demonstrable political action and protecting queer culture. 'See what you can do without going crazy. If you can focus on one thing and you can spend one hour a week, or you can spend one day a week, that's much better than being depressed and doing nothing,' she said. 'Because the person you're going to help is yourself. This is the time for all of us to step up.' Renata Ramos feels obligated to share her experiences with young people. As a 63-year-old trans Latina, she wants young people to know that so many of their elders have already been through hard times — which means that they can make it, too, including during this moment. 'I'm not scared in the least. Because we have fought so many battles — the elders. We have fought so many battles, with medicine, with HIV, with marching on Washington, with watching our friends die,' she said. 'It's been one war after another in our community that we have always won. We have always been resilient. We have always stood strong. We have always fought for our truth, and we're still here. They haven't been able to erase us.' As Ramos watches the Trump administration use the power of the federal government to target transgender Americans and erase LGBTQ+ history, she's not afraid for herself. She's afraid for young LGBTQ+ people, especially young trans people who now find themselves at the center of a growing political and cultural war. If someone transitioned six months ago, she said, they now have a target on their back — and little to no experience with what that feels like. 'They don't know what it is like to be a soldier going into war, as far as social issues. So I fear for them,' she said. 'Who wouldn't be scared?' Criss Christoff Smith has seen firsthand what that fear can look like. On January 28, at 3 a.m., he received a phone call from an LGBTQ+ person who was considering taking their own life. This was a stranger — someone who admired from afar Smith's advocacy as a Black trans man and Jamaican immigrant. This was someone who had been considering a gender transition for years, Smith said, who was now feeling broken. He spoke with them for two hours. 'It's been quite dark,' Smith said. The onslaught of policies targeting marginalized people and the turbocharged news cycle are working to keep Black and trans people in a constant state of fear and uncertainty, he said. 'I tell everyone in my community, you have to stop responding to those alerts and just try to go inward,' he said. 'Find a space of peace and spirituality.' To Smith, who is 64, looking inward can mean reflecting on what's still here. Although the Trump administration is going to make daily life harder for LGBTQ+ people, he said, laws can't be undone with the stroke of a pen on an executive order. LGBTQ+ Americans need to find whatever source of strength and peace they can find right now — and try to remove themselves from the daily fray as much as possible — while still finding ways to take action. 'This is the time when we really have to find community, where we really have to hone in on our spiritual feelings and try to talk to someone. Don't keep it to yourself,' he said. Joining protests or lobbying days at state capitols are great ways to find community in-person, Smith said — to be around like-minded people and to not feel so alone. 'That's the best space to be in, not home alone and in your feelings and in your mind, because we can get lost there thinking negatively. So we have to stay positive and stay with like-minded people, and have those people constantly around you to reassure you and just hold you tight in that space,' he said. Protests against the administration's hostile LGBTQ+ policies have been ongoing — including outside the Stonewall National Monument. In at least one way, history is already repeating itself. The National Park Service deleted all references to transgender and queer people from its web page honoring the 1969 Stonewall uprising — the most well-known moment from LGBTQ+ history in the country — leaving references to only lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Hundreds gathered in New York City to protest. Among them was Renee Imperato, a 76-year-old trans woman and New York native. 'Protests like this are our survival,' she told The 19th over email. 'The rhetoric of this administration is driving a violent onslaught against our community. The Stonewall Rebellion is not over. We are at war, and we are still fighting back. What other choice do we have?' Jay, herself an old hand at joining protests and demonstrations, said that she's been afraid before every one of them. She's lost sleep the night before and feared for her safety — but she did it anyway. 'I'm afraid I'll be beaten. I'm afraid I'll be arrested. But if you don't do something even though you're afraid, they win,' she said. The post From Stonewall to now: LGBTQ+ elders on navigating fear in dark times appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
5 Black LGBTQ+ trailblazers who influenced history
Throughout history, there have been figures whose legacies have endured, continuing to shape movements and events. These individuals defied the odds and were pillars of resilience, expression, and authenticity. As we celebrate Black History Month, we spotlight some Black LGBTQ+ game changers who had a major impact on the community. Marsha P. Johnson Marsha P. Johnson's name is synonymous with revolution and advocacy, particularly for trans rights. A Black trans woman and one of the most iconic figures in the fight for LGBTQ+ liberation, Johnson co-founded the Gay Liberation Front and the Street Trans Action Revolutionaries (STAR). She was present at the Stonewall Riots of 1969, a defining moment for the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Johnson's activism was marked by her compassion for marginalised communities, especially trans and homeless youth, offering them shelter and support. Her legacy continues to inspire as a symbol of courage and social justice. Marsha P. Johnson: Trans activist. She was a leader at the infamous Stonewall Riots & helped homeless LGBT+ youth. — 🌙𝑀𝒪𝑅𝑅𝐼𝒢𝒜𝒩 ✨ (@GayGothMermaid) February 16, 2016 Jackie McCarthy O'Brien Jackie McCarthy O'Brien made history as the first person of colour to play for the Republic of Ireland senior women's football team. She made her debut in 1983, going on to secure a total of 13 international caps. She also earned a place on the Irish women's rugby team, making a similar number of appearances and being their first mixed-race player. James Baldwin Writer and activist James Baldwin was one of the most profound voices of the 20th century, exploring race, identity, sexuality, and marginalisation. His works, including Giovanni's Room and The Fire Next Time, confronted the painful realities of racial and sexual identity in a divided America. Baldwin's eloquent exploration of race and queerness resonated widely, making him an intellectual and advocate for human rights. His courage to speak truth to power paved the way for generations of activists and thinkers and his words continue to inspire today. 'It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I'd been taught about myself, and half-believed, before I was able to walk on the Earth as though I had a right to be here.' —James Baldwin — AFRICAN & BLACK HISTORY (@AfricanArchives) January 11, 2025 Gladys Bentley Gladys Bentley was a revolutionary figure in early 20th-century Harlem, known for her powerful voice and unapologetic gender expression. As a queer Black woman during the Harlem Renaissance, Bentley defied norms both onstage and off, performing in speakeasies and nightclubs where she captivated audiences with her bold performances of jazz, blues, and gospel. She was known for dressing in men's clothing and challenging conventional ideas of femininity. gladys bentley was a lesbian gender-bending blues singer, pianist and entertainer during the harlem renaissance. according to the new york times she was harlem's most famous lesbian in the 30s. — ale ☆ (@romansnby) June 1, 2020 Willi Ninja Known as the 'Godfather of Voguing', Willi Ninja was a legendary figure in New York City's ballroom scene. Rising to fame in the 1980s, Ninja's innovative dance style—characterised by sharp, angular poses and fluid movements—was a defining element of voguing, a dance form rooted in Black and Latino LGBTQ+ communities. As a leading figure in the ballroom scene, Ninja helped bring voguing into the mainstream. His contributions not only shaped the world of dance but also became a symbol of resilience for those marginalised in mainstream society. Ninja's legacy continues to thrive in LGBTQ+ culture and fashion, influencing contemporary artists and dancers worldwide. Willi Ninja voguing in the studio and at the 1998 House of Fields ball. In this clip, which is from the 1998 short documentary Voguing: The Message, he cites the people who taught him to vogue including Little Michael and Hector Valle Xtravaganza, founding father of the house. — come from behind (@GoAwfCis) January 3, 2025 These five Black LGBTQ+ individuals were not just trailblazers; they were visionaries who challenged societal norms and fought for the rights, visibility and inclusion of the most marginalised throughout history. As we continue to face new challenges and struggles, their legacies remind us of the power of standing unapologetically in one's truth and fighting for a more just world for all. The post 5 Black LGBTQ+ trailblazers who influenced history appeared first on GCN.
