#ampyourissue

Hello friends!

We’re looking to start a weekly conversation called #WayBackWednesday, which will center the lives and times of different queer and trans-cestors as a way to reclaim our histories and affirm our futures. Join us by submitting your own #WaybackWednesday post to @ampmyissue​ this week!

To kick off our first #WYI #WayBackWednesday and to uplift Black Trans History this month, we want to honor Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson: fore-mother of the Stonewall Riots.

“Back in the 1960s, the Stonewall Inn was the one of the few bars in Manhattan where people of the same sex could dance with each other without police harassment, which was only protected through alleged Mafia ties. On June 28, 1969, the bar's patrons clashed with police officers, in a raid that would have otherwise resulted in arrests and public shaming. However, this time the patrons fought back, setting off what we now know as the modern LGBT movement, including the tradition of LGBT Pride marches. Two often-forgotten people who made an impact that night were transgender women of color: Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.”

“Johnson was a patron at the bar who "really started it" on the night of the riots, according to one witness in David Carter's 2004 book Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution. Originally from New Jersey, Johnson moved to the West Village in 1967 to escape the bigotry she had faced growing up across the river. She went to Stonewall that night to celebrate her 25th birthday, reportedly becoming part of that initial moment of resistance to spark the landmark rebellion, according to the documentary Pay It No Mind: The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson.”

“During the 1980s AIDS epidemic that ravaged the gay community, Johnson became a prominent activist with the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, which did things like demonstrate on Wall Street against the exorbitant prices of experimental AIDS drugs.  Johnson died in 1992 at age 48 under mysterious circumstances: Her body was found floating in the Hudson River. The case remains unsolved.”

Almost 47 years after the Stonewall riots and 24 years after Marsha’s death, we honor her life, resilience and resistance, and continue to fight for the liberation of all trans people.

♡

SUBMIT your own #WayBackWednesday post to @ampmyissue 

On October 31, 2015, we are giving away $5,000 to select participants who finished our survey! Take What’s Your Issue? by visiting whatsyourissue.org.