#marciapjohnson

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.”

Marcia P Johnson, self identified drag queen and gay liberation activist, 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 was sifting through these while visiting O’Neal one afternoon and just started improvising fictitious captions for each. This eventually got turned into a book “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 Marcia’s he 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.”