ABSTRACT
Marsha P. Johnson was a transgender queer activist, drag queen, performer, and survivor. She famously fought back at the Stonewall Riots, a historical standoff between police and queer youth at the Stonewall Inn in New York City, and marched in the first Pride parade the following year in recognition of Stonewall's anniversary. She additionally co-founded an activist group known as the Gay Liberation Front and created the organization Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) alongside Sylvia Rivera. Johnson was a successful community organizer who attended and planned protests, marches, and community meetings with a clear mission in mind: LGBTQ+ acceptance. As Johnson gained recognition in the queer community as a leader throughout the 1960s and 1970s, she started conducting media interviews to represent the Gay Liberation Front, STAR, and her other activist work. She specifically discussed overlooked issues like youth homelessness and HIV and AIDS.
