March 25th, 2021

Marsha P Johnson was an American gay liberation activist, self-identified drag queen, performer, and survivor who served as one of the prominent figures in the Stonewall uprising of 1969 and was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front. Marsha was a hugely popular figure in NY and left a lasting legacy for years to come as an inspirational activist who helped shape future generations.

Marsha moved to Greenwich Village at 21 years old, where she was able to express her true self and began living more freely after growing up in a relatively strict household. Marsha renamed herself to Marsha P Johnson, where the P stood for "Pay it no Mind," which was a famous quip she would use when people would question her gender identity.

Johnson struggled in her early days in New York, but started to take true joy as a drag queen in the nightlife hub of Christopher Street in Greenwich Village and began to make an imprint on the local scene, often wearing extravagant clothes, which she would make and thrift herself, adorned with flower crowns, gems, and bright makeup. Even though she had to mostly pave her own way in the scene, she ultimately became known as the "Saint of Christopher Street" and as the "Drag Mother," due to her generosity in helping the struggling LGBTQ youth and community. Johnson would ultimately go on to have a successful drag career, even touring internationally with Hot Peaches.

Perhaps most famously, Marsha was a prominent leader in the gay liberation movement of the 1970's. She became known as one of the leading figures of the Stonewall Uprising of 1969, which occurred after police raided the Stonewall Inn, an iconic Greenwich Village gay bar, in the middle of the night. Immediately after the police raid, riots began to break out, and although the first two nights were them most intense, demonstrations, marches, and clashes with police would last for about a week and would serve as a pivotal moment in the fight for gay liberation and LGBT rights.

After the events at Stonewall, Marsha would continue her activism and helped found the Gay Liberation Front, and organization that seeks justice and equality and works to protect LGBTQ lives, and STAR with Sylvia Rivera, another prominent gay liberation and transgender rights activist. They organized and led marches, helped bring awareness to the movement, and dedicated their time to helping the local LGBTQ youth and fighting for civil rights. Marsha also worked as an AIDS activist in the 1980's and 1990's. Marsha never backed down from a fight for equality. In the early 1970's, Marsha and a group were rallying for gay rights at City Hall in NYC, where Johnson was asked by a reporter why the group was marching, and Johnson shouted "Darling, I want my gay rights now!" Johnson's quote would ring on for generations as the fight for LGBTQ communities, liberation, and equality marched on.

Shortly after the 1992 gay pride parade, Johnson was found dead in the Hudson River, with police initially ruling the death a suicide. However, Marsha's friends and community insisted that although Marsha struggled with mental health, that she was not suicidal and that the death be looked into as a potential homicide. In 2002, the case was reclassified to "undetermined." In 2016, Victoria Cruz of the Anti-Violence Project also tried to get Johnson's case reopened, and in the process, gained access to documents, witness statements, and interviews that ultimately would go on to become a Netflix documentary "The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson."

Marsha P Johnson was a pioneer, hero, and trailblazer in the fight for LGBTQ equality and helped change the lives of her community for generations. In February 2020, New York announced the East River State Park in Brooklyn would be named the Marsha P Johnson State Park, the first New York state park to be named after a LGBTQ person, and ultimately serving as one more monument to the legendary activist.