Marsha P. Johnson – Black History Month x Worcester City Women FC

By Annie Highway  

In our first instalment of articles for Black History Month, midfielder Annie Highway told us about the life of Marsha P. Johnson, who led the way for LGBTQ+ rights in the 1960s and 1970s in New York City. 

Marsha was born on 24th August 1945 and died on 6th July 1992 and was a transgender activist. 

She was an integral part of the LGTBQ+ movement and community and at the forefront of the Stonewall uprising at a time when LGBTQ+ rights were extremely limited within society. 
 
Marsha moved to New York when she was 17 years old and worked as a waitress, drag artist and mostly as a sex worker to earn her money. She did not have a permanent fixed abode to call home and often had to find various places to sleep, like restaurants, etc. 
 
Marsha, with her friend Sylvia, formed Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries (STAR). This was to house transgender people and give them a safe place to reside. Transgender people were more likely to be homeless and do sex work as a way to earn money, which would mean they drew the attention of the police as well as putting themselves in dangerous situations. 
 
Marsha P. Johnson was a fearless transgender woman who fought passionately and tirelessly for the rights of the transgender and LGBTQ+ community despite many struggles from society and the LGBTQ+ community itself to limit the voice of herself and the transgender community. 
 
She was always smiling and offering people in need anything she could provide despite having very little herself. Marsha paved the way for transgender people to be seen and for their rights to be recognised, which is still a fight that is ongoing in today’s society.