Marsha P Johnson, self identified drag queen and gay liberation activist, & central figure in the 1969 Stonewall uprising, snapped here by Hank O’Neal, Christopher Street, NYC June 1977.
O’Neal had taken several rolls of film from his doorstep over the years he lived on Christopher Street, and some time later Allen Ginsberg, sifting through these while visiting O’Neal, started improvising fictitious captions for each. These were published as “Gay Day: The Golden Age of the Christopher Street Parade 1974-1983“ published by Abrams, but sadly went out of print soon after. Worth tracking down if you can find it.
On Marsha’s Allen wrote: “If I keep dressing up like this I’ll save the world from nuclear apocalypse, but will anyone love me for it? I’ll have to save the world anyway. I know what looks good.”
Photo Hank O'Neal, Christopher Street, 1977, caption: Allen Ginsberg.#marciapjohnson #hankoneal #allenginsberg #christopherstreet #gaypride #lgbtq #queer #poetrycommunity (at Manhattan, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfSSkYirflQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
