---- TW: Transgender Violence ----

 

Every year, pride month is a time of discussing important LGBTQ+ issues.  If you’re like me, you may be hearing people on your Instagram or TIk Tok feed saying things like “Black trans lives matter” or “we have pride today of Black trans women.”  But what does this mean?  Black transgender women have been at the forefront of the LGBTQ+ rights movement for decades, but are rarely recognized for their work.  They were leaders in the Stonewall Riots, the beginning of the modern LGBTQ+ Rights movement, yet were, and still are, excluded from the movement they created.  It is important to acknowledge the leadership of Black trans women throughout LGBTQ+ history, specifically two inspirational women: Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

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Masha P. (“Pay it No Mind”) Johnson (1945-1992) was a Black trans woman who played a main role in the Stonewall Riots of 1969 and other LGBTQ+ activism throughout her lifetime.  She was known for her saying “pay it no mind” when asked about her gender or sexuality, or what the “P” in her name stood for.  She was also an activist against AIDS with the organization ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from 1987 until her death in 1992. On July 6, her body was found in the Hudson River. Although the police report claimed the reason to be suicide, many activists at the time believed it to be murder. 

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In 1970, Johnson and Sylvia Rivera founded STAR, Street Transvestite (now transgender) Action Revolution, for homeless LGBTQ+ youth.  The organization started out as a shelter in a trailer truck in Greenwich Village until Johnson and Rivera bought a house, paid for with Johnson and Rivera’s sex work at night, while they taught children to read and write during the day.  STAR House became the first LGBTQ+ youth homeless shelter in North America and the first trans women of color-led organization in the United States.  STAR was disbanded after a few years, but has recently been revived. 

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Sylvia Rivera (1951-2002) was a Latina trans woman who, like Johnson, was a crucial player in the Stonewall Riots, as well as an LGBTQ+ rights activist.  After a difficult childhood, Rivera ran away at age 11 and began doing sex work in New York City.  In 1963, Rivera met Johnson and the two became close friends.  At age 17, Rivera threw the second Molotov cocktail at the police during the Stonewall riots in 1969, and did not go home or sleep for six nights.  She stood up for trans people discouraged from participating in the first pride parades and was booed off the stage after grabbing the microphone and yelling “If it wasn’t for the drag queen, there would be no gay liberation movement. We’re the front-liners.”  Rivera worked with Johnson to co-found STAR in 1970, an important cause to her after frequently experiencing homelessness throughout her life.  Rivera also struggled with substance abuse, with Johnson helping her by bringing her to a hospital to receive help.  After this, she moved to Upstate New York until Johnson’s death in 1992, when she returned to New York City. In 1997, she started the Transy House, modeled after the STAR House.  Rivera died of liver cancer in 2002 with her partner Julia Murray by her side. 

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If Black trans women like Johnson and Rivera did all of this work, why are they still being excluded from LGBTQ+ rights?  Unfortunately, this is a systemic issue created by many years of discrimination.  Today, according to the National LGBTQ Task Force, “Black transgender people had an extremely high unemployment rate at 26 percent, two times the rate of the overall transgender sample and four times the rate of the general population.”  Additionally, 41 percent have experienced homelessness (five times the general U.S. population) at some point in their lives, and 34 percent live in extreme poverty (compared to 4 percent of the general U.S. population).  Violence against Black trans women is also extremely prevalent today.  In 2019, the American Medical Association declared violence against trans people an epidemic due to dozens of transgender murders.  According to the Human Rights Campaign, “in the seven years that [they have] tracked anti-transgender violence, an average of at least 22 transgender and gender non-conforming people have been victims of fatal violence per year.”  Unfortunately, violence and discrimination against trans people is largely allowed by laws in the United States.  One of these very common laws is LGBTQ+ panic defense, which is legal in 42 out of 50 states.  According to this law, gay or trans panic defense “is a legal strategy which is used to mitigate the sentence of someone accused of a violent hate crime against a member of the LGBTQ+ community.”  This means that is 42 out of 50 states it is legal to kill someone just for being gay or trans.

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We should be outraged by this.  This epidemic violence against Black trans women should not be okay; it has never been ok.  But what can we do to fight against it?  We can start by supporting The Equality Act, which “would provide consistent and explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people across key areas of life, including employment, housing, credit, education, public spaces and services, federally funded programs, and jury service.”  This law would mean that Black trans women, and LGBTQ+ individuals, would be protected against discrimination on many fronts.  We should also support anti-violence laws for LGBTQ+ individuals, such as the overturning of gay/trans panic laws.  You can support the passing of these laws by contacting your representatives to let them know you support The Equality Act and other acts regarding LGBTQ+ individuals your state might be debating.  You could also sign petitions supporting the passing of these laws, or donate to organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign or individuals who have been affected by anti-trans violence.

Black trans women like Masha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera did not spend their whole lives fighting for their rights to have little progress since their time.  Black trans women are a powerful force, but will need the support of others for the legal justice they deserve.  We have the right to a future where Black trans women, and all LGBTQ+ people, do not have to fear for their lives just for expressing who they are.