Marsha P Johnson, "The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson"
Photo by Leonard Fink, Courtesy LGBT Community Center National History Archive
If you’re not familiar with Marsha P Johnson, drop everything and educate yourself. Marsha was a central figure in the gay liberation movement, self-identified drag queen, performer, and survivor.
Marsha established one of the United States first safe spaces for transgender and homeless youth, Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). She tirelessly advocated on behalf of sex workers, prisoners, and people with HIV/AIDS.
Marsha said her ambition was to “see gay people liberated and free and to have equal rights that other people have in America, with her gay brothers and sisters out of jail and on the streets again”.
She was a prominent figure in the Stonewall uprising of 1969 alongside her friend Sylvia Rivera (pictured above). Sadly her suspicious death in 1992 has gone unsolved. The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson follows activist Victoria Cruz as she searches for answers to Marsha’s mysterious passing and uncovers all the stones left unturned by the police and investigators.
50 years on trans people are still fighting for their rights
Though there’s more visibility than ever, through the work of incredible organisations like Mermaids and GIRES, on our timelines and our streaming services, trans people are arguably more at risk now than ever before. It is essential that we come together now to fight for the rights of trans women.
In the US last year, at least 26 trans or gender nonconforming people were fatally shot or killed - 91% of those lost were Black women. All this caused The American Medical Association to declared an “epidemic of violence” against Black trans women. But sadly this has continued into 2020 with the senseless killings of ✨ Nina Pop ✨ Monika Diamond ✨ Tony McDade ✨ Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells ✨ Riah Milton ✨
Things aren’t better here in the UK, reports from Stonewall show that trans people in the UK face huge levels of abuse and inequality right now. Two in five trans people have had a hate crime committed against them in the last year, and two in five trans young people have attempted suicide. One in eight trans people have been physically attacked by colleagues or customers at work. And it isn’t just people on the street who are behaving violently and homophobically — the Government is also rolling back hard-won rights. In the UK, Boris Johnson is set to scrap plans to allow people to change their legal gender by “self-identifying” as male or female. And across the pond, the Trump administration announced cuts of $250 million from the The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and refused to guarantee transgender people health care under the Affordable Care Act.
At the Black Trans Lives Matter March June 2020
So, how can you support trans people NOW
It is vital that we take inspiration from iconic women like Marsha P Johson and take action for trans women now. We can’t delude ourselves into thinking this only a US issue. Silence is violence so lets speak up and act now:
Educate yourself
Stonewall and YouGov’s state of the nation LGBT in Britain focuses on the experiences of more than 800 trans and non-binary people. It contains powerful testimonies that demonstrate why fighting for equality for trans people should be a priority for everyone.
Check in with GIRES resource and Transwiki, a comprehensive directory of the groups campaigning for, supporting or assisting trans and gender non-conforming individuals, including those who are non-binary and non-gender, as well as their families across the UK
Get inspiration from the Actions and Resources for Solidarity Google Doc.
Donate
The vast majority of corporate Pride donations (estimated 80%) go to white-led LGBTQ+ organisations. Set up regular donations to organisations like:
Mermaids - Donate Now
GIRES - Donate Now
Seek out and support GoFund me campaigns like the Exist Loudly Fund, founded by Tanya Compas an award winning youth worker, community organiser.