Sylvia Rivera
The fight for equality and the exploration of gender and sexuality politics in the modern United States is often linked to the Stonewall Riots in 1969. One of the most prominent activists who were on the front lines of this protest was Sylvia Rivera, a Latinx drag queen and a transgender woman. Representing such overlooked groups as people of color and transgender people, Rivera became a notable figure in the pursuit of human rights for the LGBTQ+ community. Her achievements span decades of activism to bring awareness to the issues that trans people faced, including the problems within the world of the gay rights movement.
Noteworthy Facts
Rivera entered the activist scene early, although she already had significant experience with physical and verbal abuse, sexual exploitation, homophobia, and transphobia. Having run away from home at 11 years old, Rivera became a sex worker. Although homeless and exploited, she also gained a community among other young drag queens who embraced her gender expression, including another prominent activist, Marsha P. Johnson.
In 1969, when Rivera was 17, she was one of the initiators of the Stonewall Riots (La Fountain-Stokes, 2021). According to Rivera’s own words, she threw the second Molotov cocktail at the police in protest of raids on the Stonewall Inn (Rothberg, 2021). This major event in the history of gay rights in the United States became the start of Rivera’s career in activism.
After the riots ended, Rivera continued to advocate for the inclusion of underrepresented minorities in gay liberation movements. She joined the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activist Alliance and had conflicts within both organizations. At the pride parade in 1973, Rivera voiced her then-controversial opinion: “If it wasn’t for the drag queen, there would be no gay liberation movement” (Rothberg, 2021). In 1970, she also co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with another prominent drag queen and transgender activist, Marsha P. Johnson.
The group had a STAR House, a shelter for transgender youth and street youth – parts of the LGBTQ+ community whose issues often were unnoticed. STAR House was the first shelter for LGBTQ+ youth in North America and the first organization protecting sex work as a labor (Rothberg, 2021). After a 20-year break from activism and the death of Johnson, Rivera returned to New York City in 1992 and resumed her activity, forming Transy House to fulfill the same purpose (Rothberg, 2021). As the movements progressed, she was able to work with gay liberation movements. She continued to give voice to homeless youth, transgender people, sex workers, and people of color.
Human Rights
Rivera’s contribution to the human rights movement is on the same level as that of her friend, Marsha P. Johnson. She actively participated in the Stonewall Riots, one of the most foundational events in the American history of gay liberation. Most notably, Rivera advocated for populations that were not considered in the movement – groups that were marginalized and neglected within the gay community. From the start, she elevated drag queens, trans people, Latinx people, unhoused youth, and sex workers and demanded they be given representation in the fight for human rights. While the majority in the community, white gay men and middle-class lesbians, were concerned with gay marriage and bar raids, Rivera saw many bigger issues of homelessness, sexual exploitation, and gender expression.
Although Rivera had many conflicts with the gay liberation movements in the 1960s and 1970s, the social changes in the 1990s allowed her to reconcile with the New York City activists and continue inserting the issues of transgender people into local activism. Having claimed her identity as a trans woman later in life, Sylvia continued to participate in pride parades and lead Transy House before she passed in 2002. Her name continues to empower human rights activists today.
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project is a movement that provides resources for people to support free gender expression and identity (Rothberg, 2021). It operates according to the principles that the activist upheld – helping people of all races and incomes and protesting discrimination. Rivera is also the first transgender activist whose portrait was added to the National Portrait Gallery in 2015 (Rothberg, 2021). New York City commemorated the activist by naming an intersection in Greenwich Village after her – “Sylvia Rivera Way” (Rothberg, 2021).
References
Ambrosini, J. (1969). Police force people back outside the Stonewall Inn as tensions escalate the morning of June 28, 1969 [Photograph]. Stage and Cinema. Web.
Carle, L. (2000). Sylvia Rivera (with Christina Hayworth and Julia Murray) [Photograph]. National Portrait Gallery. Web.
La Fountain-Stokes, L. (2021). The life and times of trans activist Sylvia Rivera. In A. Y. Ramos-Zayas & M. M. Rúa (Eds.), Critical dialogues in Latinx studies (pp. 241-253). New York University Press.
Rothberg, E. (2021). Sylvia Rivera. National Women’s History Museum. Web.
Shaff, V. (2000). Sylvia Rae Rivera [Photograph]. Sylvia Rivera Law Project. Web.
Shumsky, E. (1970). Members of STAR at the occupation of NYU’s Weinstein Hall [Photograph]. OutHistory. Web.
Sutcliffe, J. (1994). Sylvia Rivera leading an ACT-UP march in New York City’s on June 26, 1994 [Photograph]. Biography. Web.