Marsha P Johnson Research Papers

Andy Brown

Honors Blind Eye of History

Mrs. Schmidt

12 January 2023

Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson is recognized as one of the most famous and memorable transgender people in America. She self identified as a gay person, a transvestite, and a drag queen, but the term transgender became more popular after her death. She is recorded as using exclusively She/Her pronouns. Marsha, first known as Black Marsha but later Marsha P. Johnson was an inspiration and help to many young trans and queer youth. As a transgender woman of color, she is widely praised and respected to this day.

Marsha P. Johnson was born in 1945. She was assigned male at birth. It’s recorded that in her youth she enjoyed wearing clothing typically made for girls. However

This work was incredibly dangerous. It’s recorded she was shot, assaulted, and threatened multiple times during her work. While living in New York, Marsha met a young trans woman named Sylvia. Just eleven, Sylvia became like family to Marsha. Many people assume or record that Marsha had a bad relationship with her family, when, in fact, she loved her family very much. On June 28, 1969,a raid took place. The Stonewall Inn was a popular gay bar and the police arrived at about 2 AM. They instructed the patrons to leave the bar, arresting many people for illegal cross-dressing. Police beat some of the people inside the bar which is what began the riot. Raids on gay bars were common but this was the first to insight this size of a riot. Eyewitnesses say Marsha P. Johnson was one of the people in the riot that night. Angry at the lack of rights, Marsha and Sylvia founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) to help homeless transgender

Marsha and Sylvia were able to open the first STAR shelter in a trailer, where they welcomed trans sex workers, homeless trans people, and other young LGBTQ people on the streets. Rivera said, “STAR was for the street gay people, the street homeless people, and anybody that needed help at that time.” The inhabitants of the house, which Marsha called “children”, were tasked with helping to find food for the other children in the house. The goal for this was so they did not have to turn to the dangers of sex work for food as Marsha had. One day as they were returning to the STAR house, the trailer was nowhere to be found. It had been towed with several people still inside. Because of this, a permanent building was found to house STAR. Johnson and Rivera even tried to set up a program to teach the inhabitants to read and write. This was the first LGBTQ youth shelter in North America. Marsha was also a part of the Gay Liberation Front, another activist group focused on political rights for LGBT people. STAR moved to other cities across the country and even in other countries but was disbanded in the