Marsha P. Johnson

Biography

Marsha P. Johnson was a revolutionary transgender activist and a pivotal figure in the LGBTQ+ rights movement. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, she moved to New York City after high school with just $15 and a bag of clothes. In the city, she became a prominent figure in the Greenwich Village arts and gay scenes.

Johnson is best known for her role in the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the gay community in response to a police raid. She was one of the first to resist the police, and her actions helped to ignite the modern gay rights movement.

Following Stonewall, Johnson and her close friend Sylvia Rivera co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group dedicated to helping homeless transgender youth. She was also a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and later became an activist for ACT UP, raising awareness about the AIDS epidemic. Despite facing poverty, homelessness, and violence throughout her life, Marsha P. Johnson remained a tireless advocate for the most marginalized members of her community.