Sylvia Rivera And The Rosa Parks Of The Transgender Movement

I believe that Sylvia Rivera is one of the three most important LGBTQ+ figures in America since 1970, because of her actions during her lifetime and the legacy that she left behind. In particular, her activism called out the conservative and exclusionary politics of LGBT rights groups in the 1970s, and the erasure of transgender women and drag queens from larger movements despite their significance to those groups. Much of Rivera’s activism focused on the inclusion and protection of transgender people, and that legacy continues today. For example, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, an organization that provides legal help to non-cisgender people of color, is named in her honor and fights for many of the same causes that Sylvia herself did. Sylvia, along with her friend and fellow activist Marsha P. Johnson, formed the organization Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) in the 1970s, to advocate for and house homeless drag queens in New York City. Although STAR was not a particularly long-lasting organization, Sylvia’s work through STAR and the Metropolitan Community Church of New York left their mark, and the Metropolitan Community Church of New York’s shelter for LGBT youth is named after Sylvia. Because of her impact upon the LGBT community during and after the 1970s, I think that Sylvia Rivera would be an excellent choice for one of the three most important LGBTQ+ figures since 1970.

In “Transgender Liberation” by Susan Stryker, she writes about what lead to the Compton’s Cafeteria riot in 1966. There was a large population of transgender women living in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. They lived in chap residential hotels, and worked as prostitutes or maids in order to support themselves. This, being caused by the “housing and employment discrimination against transgender people” (Stryker 435). This became, according to Stryker, an “involuntary containment zone for transgender women” (Stryker 435), and police perpetuated this by sending them there. They also discriminated them by putting them in jail for suspicion of prostitution. In response to the economic insufficiency, the “Tenderloin residents launched a grassroots campaign for economic justice in 1965” (Stryker 436). Around the same time, Vanguard, now known as the earliest known queer youth organization, was started by and made up of “young gay hustlers and transgender people”

In her book “Gender Outlaw: On Men, Woman, and the Rest of us,” Kate Bornstein goes over a lot of the major issues regarding gender awareness and identity politics. She talks about the ideas of labeling ones self, understanding gender differences, how people view laws, behaviors, and the medical and scientific privilege that make transitioning challenging for a lot of people. Bornstein touches on many of the issues today that affect trans people. She includes poetry, pictures, quotes, essays, and a play to raise questions and discuss the idea of gender. This is a great book to introduce and discuss the issues that affect the lives of trans people as they navigate and explore the lines that define gender.

Puerto Rican trans woman Sylvia Rivera, the Stonewall Riots are a symbol to this day of some of

The 1960’s was a decade of great change in America, from civil rights for African Americans to equal rights for women, the American people were rising up and discovering that their voice in the political discourse was just as important as those they elected to office. One other such group that awakened and challenged the existing status quo that kept them silent and scared were the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities across the country. From the first large-scale associations of LGBT individuals that formed in San Francisco in the 1950’s to the political and social groups that came to be following the Stonewall Riots of 1969, they would speak out and not allow themselves to be kept down anymore. The aim of this paper is to establish the events and opinions that led up to the uprising at the Stonewall Inn such as perceived and real discrimination by police, medical professionals, and society itself, what actually happened at Stonewall, and how they sparked the modern LGBT movement in the United States over the next half century to the present day.

The author lists recent protests held by the trans community over a movie that places a cisgender, white, gay male at the center of the revolutionary Stonewall Riots, despite the widespread fact and acknowledgement that trans-women of color were the revolutionaries of the riots. The Stonewall Riots were the pivotal moment in the on-going movement towards equality for the LGBT communities. During the riots that took place in the 60’s, queer men and women worked alongside trans and gender nonconforming people for the purpose of making the LGBT voice heard across not only America, but world. The conjoined efforts of both the trans and gay communities are what have led us to the legalization of gay marriage this past year. Together, both communities have created so much progress. Wouldn’t dividing ourselves into separate communities effectively stop us from continuing this progress towards

There are certainly various points in history that can be construed as trailblazing for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. One event in particular, however, sparked awareness and a call to action that previously could never have been conceptualized in the United States. This unforgettable incident, the Stonewall riots of 1969, altered the public’s view of the gay community and arguably jumpstarted the next revolution in an entirely new civil rights movement.

One’s gender identity represents who they are, whether they were born with male or female genitalia. Back in the 1900’s, “for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) folks in America, the efflorescence of sexual expression did not begin until the waning months of that decade in the heart of the nation’s then-largest bohemian enclave and gay ghetto, New York’s Greenwich Village” (Wolf). In the 60’s, being able to express who you were freely was pushed aside much too often. But because of the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village, their fight has helped people today be who they want to be without any discrimination. Over “four decades after the Stonewall riots, political leaders are now beginning to recognize the influence of the LGBT community, knocking down barriers to gay and lesbian participation in the military and nominating at least two transgender officials, for the first time in history, to senior posts in the federal government under the Obama administration” (Teal). Whether someone identifies as a man, woman, or neither, they are able to participate in any group regardless. Due to the Stonewall riots, no matter what no one can turn you down based off of your gender identity, which is causing political leaders to now think differently because of this monumental time in history where everyone can be accepted for who they want to

“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in” (Parks). I was tired, tired of being oppressed, and tired of being stepped on by the law, and my fellow people. That was the only tired i felt. The Montgomery Bus protest sparked a fire that would be felt throughout the entire country, and it was the spark that ignited the fire of the civil rights movement that shook the world. The boycott was the first of it, once light was shown on the problem, she began travelling cross country spreading information about civil rights, and sparking more peaceful protest. Rosa Parks was an important figure that changed the direction of the United States of America. She was trying to get home from work that day, but she turned into an icon for the civil rights movement, and shined a light on the unfair treatment of african americans.

Serano recalls her own experiences of being sexualized to shed light on how trans identities are sexualized. The story points out how a person’s transition from one gender to another, or being trans itself can be viewed as sexual solicitation, rather than a result of their own identity (Serano 257). The sexualization of trans people is based on a societal viewpoint that centers itself around male heterosexuality, as Serano expounds:

Throughout the past decades sex and gender have remained in major taboos and impacts within the transgender communities. Indeed, after participating in a Transgender Panel Discussion at Fresno State University, reading articles like Meet the Muxes, class discussions and the conclusion for all four sources lead to words like exclusion, discrimination, and oppressions because those define the lives of transgender, Muxes, and that for following their gender identities become the target for judgement and for countless . However, I never imagined that I could put myself in the shoes of these diverse identities until I visualized the challenges that fill their lives everyday for simply

One of the most well-known autobiographies is by Christine Jorgensen, Charles Brown’s inspiration for wanting to undergo sex change surgery, Jorgensen’s autobiography, “Christine: A Personal Autobiography,” was revolutionary in that challenged pejorative tabloid stories as well as encouraged other transgender women to write and publish their own stories. The 1970s and 1980s were filled with these personal narratives. The publication of such works highlighted the absence of autobiographies from transgender men. The 1980s and 1990s gave rise to queer theory. Scholars such as Judith Butler and Teresa de Lauretis took interest in questioning gender and exploring gender as a performance. Scholarship on queer theory received backlash from transgender people who argued that their lived experiences continued to be ignored. However, this body of literature has led to numerous works exploring the many facets of transgender experiences and lifestyles. While scholars continue to investigate this field, discussions of race gradually enter into these narratives, however, within the following works, discussions of black transgender individuals are

Consider their social status. These ladies in no way represents the spectrum of the social classes present in a America. But, we should remember that one lives as an A lister in LA while the other is from an ordinary family in the suburbs. Being a transgender has always been viewed as an eccentricity, but, compared to the suburbs, LA has been known to be accepting or indifferent towards the eccentric. On the other hand, much more fanfare is placed in an A-lister’s life choices compared to that of a young girl from a quiet neighborhood. Eyes everywhere versus eyes on every street.

Nothing speaks louder words regarding the wrong and the cruelty in society as does the poem “I am Trans”. Written by a young transgender woman herself, the poem brings clear view to the kinds of threats those who are transgender face in their day to day lives. Heather (last name not provided) is our coordinator, our author so to speak, while we’re being tugged along line by line of each tragic tale of the wrong done to real transgender individuals. When I say real, I truly do mean the lines provided give the actual stories of those transgender individuals who have been targeted for assault and killed. The poem recounts these events and gives a powerful message in the end about the rights this particular minority requires.

During the 1980s and 1990s, an incredible amount of progress began to be made towards equality of people belonging to the LGBT community. People of the time began to be exhausted by the way they were being treated unfairly. One such person was