Queer Figures
June celebrates the LGBTQIA+ community and, in this article, Amber is going to be talking about a small handful of queer figures that shaped the equality movement for the queer community
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LGBTQIA+ Icons
LGBTQIA+ Icons
By Amber Medina-Montoya
By Amber Medina-Montoya
June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month! This month celebrates everyone who identifies as LGBTQIA+ and also recognizes many queer figures that have made history for the community. Unfortunately, these people are not discussed as much as other figures due to the stigma around the community, so this article is going to feature a handful of important queer people that have impacted today’s society.
Stormé DeLarverie
Stormé DeLarverie
Stormé, a mixed-race and self-labeled butch lesbian, was nicknamed the “Guardian of Lesbians in the Village” due to her position as a street patrol volunteer. Aside from this job, she was also a bouncer and a singer who also crossdressed a handful of times. The New York Times says that she was “indisputably one of the first and most assertive members of the modern gay rights movement” and that there is a chance she threw the first punch at the Stonewall Uprising in 1969. It is also said in the same article from The New York Times that she would patrol lower Seventh and Eighth Avenues “on the lookout for what she called ‘ugliness’: any form of intolerance, bullying, or abuse of her ‘baby girls'. ” Growing up, DeLarverie had lived in the South and had a life of performing as a male singer. DeLarverie passed away on May 24 in 2014 from a heart attack in her sleep. She is strongly remembered as one of the most powerful and strongest members of the modern gay rights movement.
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was a civil rights activist who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. and a gay man. He was one of the main leaders of the famous March on Washington in 1963 and also lead a student boycott of New York City’s public schools due to major racial inequalities in the school system. Later on in his life, he became heavily involved in the gay rights movement. Rustin’s identity as a gay man led him to have more of a background role in the civil rights movement unless planning events, but he was never publicly ashamed of his identity and continued his work nonetheless. Rustin lived from 1912 to 1987.
Marsha P. Johnson
Marsha P. Johnson
As one of the most prominent and recognizable figures in the gay rights movement, Marsha P Johnson still stands as one of the most influential figures in the LGBTQIA+ community. Johnson was assigned male at birth, but later transitioned to a woman and renamed herself Marsha. The P in her name stands for “Pay It No Mind”, her personal motto. Marsha was involved in the Stonewall riots when the police raided the Stonewall Inn, and it is said by many people that she was on the front lines of the riots. After this, Johnson led many protests to call for gay rights and equality. Johnson founded the STAR organization, a group focused on sheltering young trans kids who had been kicked out by their unaccepting families. Johnson spent a lot of her time performing with her drag group “Hot Peaches”, earning even more recognition for herself. Johnson was tragically murdered in 1992 with her body being found in the Hudson River on July 6. Her death was originally ruled as a suicide, a conclusion that had a little bit of “proof” to back it up, as Johnson had been in and out of psychiatric hospitals due to mental health issues. A large amount of the public, however, suspected foul play was involved. Johnson’s case was not reopened until 2012 and only then was her death ruled as a murder.
Wrap Up
Wrap Up
There are countless more figures that have shaped the queer community as we know it, but there is only so much space in this article. The LGBTQIA+ community has faced numerous attacks and discrimination for centuries, but these people helped pave the way for the community to grow even stronger today. During the month of June, these figures are recognized and appreciated for their efforts, as well as today’s icons that can be seen doing work for the community.
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