Marsha P. Johnson may not be a name you recognize, but it is a name you should know. Marsha was a black transgender woman during the Stonewall Riots in 1969. She is considered one of the most influential people in the LGBT community, however, her legacy is being left out of history.
Marsha P. Johnson was considered to be a saint to all of those who knew her. She never lived a simple life, but never let that affect who she was. In an interview conducted in 1992, Marsha opened up about her life in New York, living as a prostitute on 42nd Street, homelessness, The Stonewall Inn, and life with HIV. Friends of hers said she never had much, but would give what she had to those who had less than her because she knew what it was like to live hungry and homeless. In the same 1992 interview, Marsha, with a big grin on her face, said "I'll never have nothing until the day I die."
Marsha would parade down the street, dressed up in drag, proud to live another day. She advocated for LGBT rights, having said "Darling, I want my gay rights now!" in an interview. Marsha acknowledged that she was not respected by many people; in response to a judge questioning the 'P' in her name, she snapped her fingers and said the P stood for "Pay It No Mind."
She never wanted to cause any trouble or stress, but just wanted for herself and those around her to live freely. When Marsha died, shortly after the 1992 interview, hundreds had shown up to her funeral, praising her as "Saint Marsha."
In Stonewall, a new movie about the riots coming out in September this year, Marsha P. Johnson is not mentioned once. The movie gets its name from the bar where everything happened, The Stonewall Inn. It was a bar where gay liberation was welcomed and encouraged.
On June 28, 1969, three undercover cops went into The Stonewall and tried to arrest drag queens and transgender people. In protest to their actions, it is claimed that Marsha yelled "I got my civil rights," and threw a shot glass at the wall, referred to as "the shot glass heard around the world."
Marsha was one of the first to physically resist the police. She instigated the Stonewall Riots, but is replaced in the film with a cis, white male. Marsha P. Johnson is intentionally forgotten in what is considered to be the beginning of the gay rights movement. Not acknowledging her impact on the LGBT community, her legacy, and leaving her out of Stonewall is disrespectful to those she has helped and all that she has contributed to.
