Marsha P. Johnson was born Malcolm Michaels, Jr., and she was raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She was fascinated with the New York culture, and she would visit often - on her way to the city, she would transform herself from Malcolm to Marsha on the commuter train ride. She permanently relocated to NYC when she was 22 years old.
The NYC Drag Scene
She became well known on the drag and arts scene in the NYC LGBT community from the early 1960s until her death in 1992. Johnson supported herself by working as a waitress and she often panhandled as well - on roller-skates at that.
When she first moved to NYC, she was known by many as “Black Marsha,” but she dropped the name and started calling herself “Marsha P. Johnson.” A famous story relays that Johnson was asked by a judge what the “P” stood for, she told him it stood for “Pay it No Mind,” and he laughed and set her free. She loved telling that particular story, and many in the LGBT community know it well.
Stonewall Incident and Gay Rights Activism
Bystanders witnessed Johnson drop a heavy weight onto a police cruiser during the Stonewall riots in 1969. Marsha P. Johnson was a mentor to Sylvia Rivera, another Transgender trailblazer and champion of LGBT rights, and together the pair formed STAR, which stood for Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (gotta love the 70s!).
During the early 70s, Johnson participated in rallies for gay students at NYU, although by today’s standards this does not seem like such a huge feat, but in the 1970s, the gay liberation movement was new, and it was a courageous act for people like Johnson to come out of the closet and demonstrate for civil rights.
Charity to Homeless Transvestites
One facet of STAR was to provide services to the homeless transvestite community. Johnson participated in what became known as “STAR House,” and its mission was to feed homeless transvestites (or street trannies to which they were sometimes referred).
It was during the early 1970s that she morphed from being just another drag queen to being regarded as drag mother, with a reputation for feeding and clothing homeless transvestites and LGBT youth.
Andy Warhol and the Hot Peaches
As Johnson was a performer, she won a slot with the Hot Peaches, a flamboyant community theater troupe that blended social and sexual satire. Over the years, the transgender troupe performed more than twenty plays, and Johnson toured with them to London in a play called “The Heat.”
In 1974, pop art photographer Andy Warhol immortalized Marsha P. Johnson’s likeness. Warhol used Johnson’s photo as part of a series called “Ladies and Gentlemen,” which featured Polaroids of drag queens.
A Martyr for LGBT Rights
By the late 1970s, Johnson had claimed that several attempt on her life had been made by johns. She suffered serious bouts with depression and she had been arrested many times.
Shortly after the 1992 Pride March, her body was found floating in the Hudson River. The coroner ruled her death a suicide, but witnesses stated that she had been threatened near the area in which her body was found. Despite an outcry from many in the LGB T community, the police failed to investigate her death.
Marsha P. Johnson was an active voice in the fight for civil rights for gays, lesbians, bisexual, and transgender individuals, and she should be remembered for her contributions as a leader in the LGBT community.
Sources:
YouTube Video of Several First Person Accounts Remembering Marsha P. Stewart
A First Person Account About Knowing Marsha, from Amy Coleman @ amycoleman.com
Reuters Photo of Marsha P. Johnson at NYU Pride Rally @ 2space.com
Hot Peaches - NYU Gay and Lesbian Performance History
Rachelle Williams - Rachelle Williams has been writing on the web for 2 years. In addition to Suite101, Rachelle Williams is a contributing writer for Demand ...
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