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Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson was a Black gay liberation activist who pioneered the movement for LGBTQ+ human rights. As long as gay people don’t have their rights all across America, there’s no reason for celebration,” Johnson said.
Marsha P. Johnson
February 2, 2021
Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1945, Marsha P. Johnson was a Black gay liberation activist who pioneered the movement for LGBTQ+ human rights.
Some scholars say it is most accurate that Johnson was gender non-conforming, while others say Johnson was a transgender woman. Though, when people asked questions about Johnson’s gender, Johnson would refer to the “P” in “Marsha P. Johnson”, which stands for “Pay It No Mind”, and go on working for greater acceptance within the LGBTQ+ community for those who were transgender, non-binary, or identified with other genders.
Shortly after moving to New York City at the age of 17, Johnson became very involved with the Drag Queen scene in Greenwich Village and remains to this day an icon in Drag fashion and culture. Johnson’s performance work as a drag queen was oftentimes comedic and political, using the stage to make statements about AIDs, homophobia, and racism.
In 1969 after tensions continued to rise in the city, Johnson, along with two other prominent LGBTQ+ leaders at the time, Zazu Nova and Jackie Hormona, moved into the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar turned Drag stage. In June of that year, after weeks of intimidation led by homophobic groups, Johnson made the historic decision to throw a brick past the police line in front of the Stonewall, an action that kicked off what is now referred to as the Gay Revolution of the 70s.
The months that followed were filled with violent riots, but the leaders of the Stonewall held their ground. The following year, in June of 1970, Johnson channeled the energy from the Stonewall riots and led the first Gay Pride Rally. The rally would lead to the eventual historic sit-in at the Weinstein Hall at New York University, a rally at which Johnson was quoted saying, “Darling we want our gay rights now!”
The protests that started with Stonewall in June of 1969 and the Weinstein sit-in are historical milestones in the path to LGBTQ+ rights and set a precedent for the eventual protests during the AIDs crisis of the 80s. Johnson’s leadership during the early 70s helped form the movements during the AIDs crisis, and later on the fight for Gay marriage in the early 2000s.
After suffering an untimely death in 1992, Johnson’s life has been commemorated and celebrated through the decades, often referred to as “the true mother of Drag” and an icon in the LGBTQ+ community. A monument to Marsha P. Johnson and her legacy can be found in Dallas, Texas.
Today, Johnson’s legacy lives on through The Marsha P. Johnson Institute, which was created by Elle Hearns and works to uplift the transgender community with an emphasis on Black transgender women.