Throughout Greenwich Village, Marsha P. Johnson was known as “Saint Marsha.” Locals admired her ability to truly be herself. Marsha had a reputation for being generous and kind. She gave people clothes and food, even though she had little of her own.

Sylvia's life serves as a testament to the power of resistance, and as a stark reminder that the fight to appear acceptable and palatable to mainstream America adopted by the mainstream gay rights movement is not everyone’s struggle.

Sylvia Rivera worked tirelessly for a more inclusive and intersectional approach to LGBTQ activism. She refused to take a seat and let others forget about those who had been othered by the mainstream gay rights movement.

On August 12, a body was found in Zekeriyaköy. It was determined that the body, which was burned from the waist down, was Hande Kader's. Since her family didn’t want her body, she was interred in an anonymous cemetery. Her murder has led to a great deal of protest.

Femminielli (singular femminiello) are a population of people who embody a third gender role in traditional Neapolitan culture. Femminielli are traditionally believed to bring good luck; for this reason, it is popular in the neighborhoods for a femminiello to hold a newborn baby

Sylvia's experience in school contributed to continued mockery and altercations with other students; her wearing of make-up, which started in fourth grade, contributed to her ultimate abandonment of formal education when she was called "faggot" by a fellow sixth grade classmate.

Pay It No Mind - The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjN9W2KstqE

"She was nurturing, she was someone who was a crusader, and she made sure no one was left behind. She did not have it easy. She couldn’t count on support from the gay community or the straight community, but she looked out for others." - Stefanie Rivera about Sylvia Rivera

On August 12, a body was found in Zekeriyaköy. It was determined that the body, which was burned from the waist down, was Hande Kader's. Since her family didn’t want her body, she was interred in an anonymous cemetery. Her murder has led to a great deal of protest.

Sarah was jailed for three months at Sayeda Zeinab police station where male agents incited inmates to beat her, and verbally and sexually assault her. She was arrested at home in front of her family and asked about religion, why she removed her hijab, and if she was a virgin.

Hande Kader was born in Turkey’s southeastern province of Urfa in 1993. She was living in İstanbul and she was working as a sex worker. She was last seen getting in a customer’s car before her body was found raped, mutilated, and burnt on 12 August 2016.

In 1973, Johnson and Rivera were banned from participating in the gay pride parade by the transphobic gay and lesbian committee who were administering the event stating they "weren't gonna allow drag queens" at their marches claiming they were "giving them a bad name".

Throughout Greenwich Village, Marsha P. Johnson was known as “Saint Marsha.” Locals admired her ability to truly be herself. Marsha had a reputation for being generous and kind. She gave people clothes and food, even though she had little of her own.

In the Indian subcontinent, hijra are eunuchs, intersex people, or transgender people who live in communities that follow a kinship system known as guru-chela system. Indian society and most hijras consider themselves to be third gender—neither male nor female.

Marsha P. Johnson was devoutly religious, saying in 1992: "I practice the Catholic religion because the Catholic religion is part of the Santería of the saints, which says that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ." https://twitter.com/i/status/1554087282126233601/video/1

Marsha and Sylvia formed the Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries. The first STAR House was in the back of an abandoned truck; nearly 24 young people called the truck home. Sylvia and Marsha hustled every night to make sure their new family had breakfast each morning.

The 1st wave (late 1990s-early 2000s) of sexual rights movements in the MENA region brought forth new collectives & projects to grapple with issues of personal freedoms & health (HIV/AIDS), such as Club Free and Hurriyat Khasa in Lebanon and a group working on HIV/AIDS in Algeria

La Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement works at the national and local levels to achieve the collective liberation of LGBT Latinas by leading an intergenerational movement through community organizing, advocacy, and education. https://familiatqlm.org/

Despite Sylvia’s enthusiasm to be involved in activists groups such as the GLF and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), from the beginning her identities as a street worker, drag queen, poor, and a Latina were troubling to the largely white, middle-class activist groups.

Most hijras' defining characteristic is leaving home to become a part of the hijra community, which removes itself from wider society and teaches its lessons in secret. A young person is initiated by following a guru who will teach the chela (disciple) in the hijra ways of life.

Sylvia Rivera (front) and Arthur Bell at gay liberation demonstration (1970)

In 2003, Helem activists staged a public boycott targeting the Beirut branches of Dunkin’ Donuts, stating that the international coffee chain had refused to serve “gay and gay-looking customers” and ask them to leave the premises.

After years of switching between living at her grandmothers’ house, living at a Catholic boarding school, and living with various family friends for long periods of time, Sylvia Rivera left home at the age of 11, never to return.

Hijra and transgender rights advocate Laxmi Narayan Tripathi speaking at a conference in Australia in 2017.

"They have a little backroom deal without inviting (trans activists) with these politicians. The deal was, 'You take them out, we’ll pass the bill.' So, what did nice conservative gay white men do? They sell a community that liberated them down the river" - Sylvia Rivera

In the Indian subcontinent, hijra are eunuchs, intersex people, or transgender people who live in communities that follow a kinship system known as guru-chela system. Indian society and most hijras consider themselves to be third gender—neither male nor female.

On February 19, 2002, Sylvia passed away at the age of 50 due to complications from liver cancer. Even on her deathbed, she was working for trans inclusion in yet another mainstream gay rights organization, the Empire State Pride Agenda.

(Sylvia) was banned from New York’s Gay & Lesbian Community Center for most of the mid-90s for angrily insisting that they provide housing for homeless queer youth during the frigid winters.

Sarah Hegazy at a protest in Canada. (Photo courtesy of HuMENA)

La Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement works at the national and local levels to achieve the collective liberation of LGBT Latinas by leading an intergenerational movement through community organizing, advocacy, and education. https://familiatqlm.org/

Despite Sylvia’s enthusiasm to be involved in activists groups such as the GLF and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), from the beginning her identities as a street worker, drag queen, poor, and a Latina were troubling to the largely white, middle-class activist groups.

"I do not want to go to work looking like a man when I know I am not a man." - Sylvia Rivera

(How are relations between the transvestites and the straight prisoners?) "Oh, the straight prisoners treat transvestites like they’re queens. They send them over cigarettes and candy, envelopes and stamps and stuff like that – when they got money." - Marsha P. Johnson

Sylvia Rivera’s grandmother took care of her for a period of time, but voiced her disapproval not only of Rivera’s mixed background that made her skin darker than she preferred (Venezuelan and Puerto Rican), but also of her behavior, which was deemed too effeminate "for a boy".

"Every time that that bill came up for a vote, I said, 'I hope it doesn’t pass,' because of what they did to me. As badly as I knew this community needed that bill, I didn’t feel it was justified for them to have it on my sweat and tears, or from my back." - Sylvia Rivera

The 3rd wave in the MENA region, flowing from the Arab uprisings beginning in 2011, saw a tremendous growth of groups in Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Iraq and elsewhere (some public and others not so much) and the rise of transgender focused groups like Trans Homo and Qorras

The growing tide of radical feminism and lesbian separatism played out violently against STAR (...) Blocked from speaking and physically attacked by lesbian feminists for 'parodying womanhood', Sylvia stormed onto the stage, grabbed the mic, and confronted the audience

"Lots of times they tell me, 'You’re not a woman!' I say, 'I don’t know what I am if I’m not a woman.' They say, 'Well, you’re not a woman.' They say 'Let me see your cunt.' I say, 'Honey, let me tell you something.' I say 'You can either take it or leave it'" - Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson was devoutly religious, saying in 1992: "I practice the Catholic religion because the Catholic religion is part of the Santería of the saints, which says that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ." https://twitter.com/i/status/1554087282126233601/video/1

Historically and culturally hijras are based in Hinduism and they perform solely for Hindus. However, hijras are not all Hindu themselves. Many are Muslim and a few are Christian. In fact, some hijras follow the beliefs and practices of both Hinduism and Islam.

Zine containing various interviews to Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ehn-nothing-untorelli-press-street-transvestite-action-revolutionaries

The 1st wave (late 1990s-early 2000s) of sexual rights movements in the MENA region brought forth new collectives & projects to grapple with issues of personal freedoms & health (HIV/AIDS), such as Club Free and Hurriyat Khasa in Lebanon and a group working on HIV/AIDS in Algeria

In 1975, Andy Warhol crossed paths with Marsha and photographed her for his Ladies and Gentleman series. When a Warhol screen-print of Marsha went on display in a Greenwich Village store, Marsha took some friends to see it. The store owners called her riffraff and threw her out.

(You’d be considered a pre-operative transsexual then? You don’t know when you’d be able to go through the sex change?) "Oh, most likely this year. I’m planning to go to Sweden. I’m working very hard to go." - Marsha P. Johnson

The 1st wave (late 1990s-early 2000s) of sexual rights movements in the MENA region brought forth new collectives & projects to grapple with issues of personal freedoms & health (HIV/AIDS), such as Club Free and Hurriyat Khasa in Lebanon and a group working on HIV/AIDS in Algeria

Sarah was jailed for three months at Sayeda Zeinab police station where male agents incited inmates to beat her, and verbally and sexually assault her. She was arrested at home in front of her family and asked about religion, why she removed her hijab, and if she was a virgin.

Despite the increasing conservative nature of the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA), and their attempts to exclude trans people from their work, Sylvia Rivera continued to work within the group in hopes of achieving inclusion for all gender variant people.

Femminielli (singular femminiello) are a population of people who embody a third gender role in traditional Neapolitan culture. Femminielli are traditionally believed to bring good luck; for this reason, it is popular in the neighborhoods for a femminiello to hold a newborn baby

After years of switching between living at her grandmothers’ house, living at a Catholic boarding school, and living with various family friends for long periods of time, Sylvia Rivera left home at the age of 11, never to return.

Sarah was jailed for three months at Sayeda Zeinab police station where male agents incited inmates to beat her, and verbally and sexually assault her. She was arrested at home in front of her family and asked about religion, why she removed her hijab, and if she was a virgin.