Tourmaline:
To me, it’s really important to look at Marsha as a leader who was navigating similar conditions and was fighting for all of us.
She demonstrated that, when we come together in the midst of a mess of a thing and connect with other people who are navigating similarly challenging conditions, we can build a vibrant movement and transform the world. So that’s one thing that I think about.
The second that I think about is that she met Sylvia Rivera, her friend, when Sylvia Rivera was 13 years old in Times Square. So, part of the story of Times Square and the street queens and Marsha in the 60s is, a lot of young people were leaving their homes because of misunderstandings with their family, hostilities in their homes.
A lot of queer, transgender, nonconforming, LGBTQIA+ young people had to leave their homes and would be houseless. I think, to me, it’s really important to ask, do we really want to go back to that? Do we really want to go back to a time when young people are not able to get the care that they need, are not able to have safe homes filled with understanding?
Because that was the reality that Marsha P. Johnson was navigating, just like Sylvia Rivera and so many other people.
