Sylvia Rae Rivera (2 July 1951–19 February 2002) was a transgender activist. Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender social movements share related goals of social acceptance of Homosexuality, Bisexuality and Transgenderism Lesbian The countries of the world have a wide variety of laws relating to sexual relations between people of the same sex - everything from full legal recognition of Same-sex marriage LGBT history refers to the History of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and Transgender peoples and cultures around the world dating back A list of LGBT rights activists who have worked to advance gay rights by political change legal action or publication The Declaration of Montreal on Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Human Rights is a document adopted in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on July 29 Same-sex marriage (also referred to as gay marriage) is a term for a legally or Socially recognized Marriage between two people of the same LGBT adoption refers to the Adoption of children by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgendered people LGBT rights opposition refers to various movements or attitudes which oppose the extension of certain rights to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexism is a term that applies to attitudes, Bias, and Discrimination in favor of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships Violence against LGBT people queer identifying and the same-sex attracted are actions which may occur either at the hands of Events 310 - Pope Miltiades is elected 626 - In fear of assassination Li Shimin ambushes and kills his rival Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January Events 197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Transgender (trænzˈdʒɛndɚ from ( Latin) derivatives Activism, in a general sense can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change She was a founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists Alliance and helped found STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), a group dedicated to helping homeless young street queens, with her friend Marsha P. Johnson. Gay Liberation Front (GLF was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969 immediately after the Stonewall The Gay Activists Alliance was founded in New York City in December 1969 after the Stonewall riots, by dissident members of the Gay Liberation Front Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR was a Transgender activist organization founded in 1970 by Marsha P Marsha P Johnson ( 1945 - July 6, 1992) was an African American Transgender activist and a popular figure in New York City
Contents |
Life and activism
Rivera began living on the streets at the age of eleven. [1] Her activism began during the Vietnam War and feminist movements and fully bloomed around the time of the Stonewall Riots. The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28 1969 at the Stonewall Inn She always spoke of her presence within the Stonewall Inn the night of the riots.
At different times in her life, Sylvia Rivera battled substance abuse issues and lived on the streets. Her experiences made her more focused on advocacy for those who, in her view, the mainline community (and often the queer community) were leaving behind. Gay community or LGBT community is a term used to describe the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender subculture
In May 1995, Rivera tried to commit suicide by walking into the Hudson River. The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, the Great Mohegan by the Iroquois, or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami [2] That year she also appeared in the Arthur Dong documentary episode "Out Rage '69", part of the PBS series The Question of Equality. [3] Rivera died during the dawn hours of February 19, 2002 at New York's St. Events 197 - Roman Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Vincent's Hospital, of complications from liver cancer. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC also called hepatoma) is a primary malignancy (cancer of the Liver. [4] Activist Riki Wilchins noted, "In many ways, Sylvia was the Rosa Parks of the modern transgender movement, a term that was not even coined until two decades after Stonewall. Riki Wilchins (born 1952 is an activist whose work has focused on issues of gender as it impacts many Americans straight and gay male female and Transgender; white and of-color Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4 1913 – October 24 2005 was an African American Civil rights activist whom the U "[5]
In the last five years of her life Sylvia renewed her political activity, giving many speeches concerning the Stonewall Riots and the necessity for unity among transgender people to fight for our h'storic legacy as people in the forefront of the LGBT movement. She traveled to Italy for the Millennium March in 2000 where she was acclaimed as the Mother of all gay people. In early 2001, after a church service at the MCC referring to the Star announcing the birth of Jesus she decided to reinstate Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries as an active political organization. STAR fought for the New York City Transgender Rights Bill and for a trans-inclusive New York State Sexual Orientation Non Discrimination Act . Also STAR sponsored street pressures for justice for Amanda Milan, a transgender woman who was murdered in 2000. Sylvia also attacked the Human Rights Commission and the Empire State Pride Agenda as organizations which were standing in the way of transgender rights. On her death bed she met with Matt Foreman and Joe Grabarz of the Empire State Pride Agenda in order to negotiate trans inclusion in ESPA's political structure and agenda.
The most detailed and accurate account of Sylvia's life is "Queens in Exile" a chapter in Gender Queer (?) a book edited by Joan Nestle.
Sylvia had a unique personality which suited her for political activism as well as for the care of others in reduced circumstances. She inspired love in thousands who knew her and many others who didn't.
Controversy
She refused to have drag culture erased from the gay rights agenda by what she considered to be assimilationist gay leaders who were, in her mind, seeking to make the community look more attractive to the heterosexual majority. Rivera's conflicts with mainstream gay and lesbian advocacy groups was emblematic of the mainstream gay rights movement's strained relationship to transvestite, or transgender issues. This article deals with the history of the word 'transvestite' Transgender (trænzˈdʒɛndɚ from ( Latin) derivatives After her death, Michael Bronski recalled her anger when she felt that she was being marginalised within the community:
- After Gay Liberation Front folded and the more reformist Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) became New York’s primary gay rights group, Sylvia Rivera worked hard within their ranks in 1971 to promote a citywide gay rights, anti-discrimination ordinance. Gay Liberation Front (GLF was the name of a number of Gay Liberation groups the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969 immediately after the Stonewall The Gay Activists Alliance was founded in New York City in December 1969 after the Stonewall riots, by dissident members of the Gay Liberation Front But for all of her work, when it came time to make deals, GAA dropped the portions in the civil rights bill that dealt with transvestitism and drag—it just wasn’t possible to pass it with such “extreme” elements included. As it turned out, it wasn’t possible to pass the bill anyway until 1986. But not only was the language of the bill changed, GAA—which was becoming increasingly more conservative, several of its founders and officers had plans to run for public office—even changed its political agenda to exclude issues of transvestitism and drag. It was also not unusual for Sylvia to be urged to “front” possibly dangerous demonstrations, but when the press showed up, she would be pushed aside by the more middle-class, “straight-appearing” leadership. In 1995, Rivera was still hurt: “When things started getting more mainstream, it was like, ‘We don’t need you no more’. ” But, she added, “Hell hath no fury like a drag queen scorned. ”[6]
According to Bronski, Rivera was banned from New York's Gay & Lesbian Community Center for several years in the mid-nineties, because, on a cold winter's night, she aggressively demanded that the Center take care of poor and homeless queer youth. A short time before her death, Bronski reports that she said:
- One of our main goals now is to destroy the Human Rights Campaign, because I’m tired of sitting on the back of the bumper. It’s not even the back of the bus anymore — it’s the back of the bumper. The bitch on wheels is back. [6]
Quotes
“I’m not missing a minute of this, it’s the revolution. ” --Regarding the Stonewall Riots, from the New York Blade [7]
Tributes
An active member of the Metropolitan Community Church of New York, Rivera ministered through the Church's food pantry, which provided food to the hungry. Metropolitan Community Church of New York is a congregation of the worldwide Metropolitan Community Church movement and preaches an inclusive Gospel of hope for Recalling her life as a child on the streets, she remained a passionate advocate for queer youth, and MCC New York's queer youth shelter is called Sylvia's Place in her honour. Queer has traditionally meant odd or unusual but is now also used to refer to anyone who is not heteronormative. [8]
In 2002, actor/comedian Jade Esteban Estrada portrays Rivera in the well-received solo musical ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. Jade Esteban Estrada (born September 17 1975 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas) is a successful Latin pop singer comedian choreographer actor 1 winning her renewed national attention.
In 2005, the corner of Christopher and Hudson streets was renamed "Rivera Way" in her honour. This intersection is in Greenwich Village, the neighborhood in New York City where Rivera started organizing, and is only two blocks from the Stonewall Inn. Greenwich Village (ˌgrɛnɪtʃ ˈvɪlɪdʒ often simply called the Village, is a largely residential area on the west side of downtown (southern Manhattan [9]
Named in her honor, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project is dedicated "to guarantee that all people are free to self-determine gender identity and expression, regardless of income or race, and without facing harassment, discrimination or violence. The Sylvia Rivera Law Project is a legal-aid organization based in New York City that serves transgender intersex and gender non-conforming people "
In January of 2007, a new musical based upon Rivera's life, Sylvia So Far, premiered in New York at La Mama in a production starring Bianca Leigh as Rivera and Peter Proctor as Marsha P. Johnson. The composer and lyricist is Timothy Mathis (Wallflowers, Our Story Too, The Conjuring), a friend of Rivera's in real life. The show is scheduled to move off-Broadway in the winter of 2007/2008.
Footnotes
- ^ Scarpinato, Bebe and Rusty Moore. Transitions: Sylvia Rivera. Transgender Tapestry #098, Summer 2002
- ^ Staff report (May 24, 1995). About New York; Still Here: Sylvia, Who Survived Stonewall, Time and the River. New York Times
- ^ Goodman, Walter (November 4, 1995). Television Review: The Gay Search for Equality. New York Times
- ^ Dunlap, David W. (February 20, 2002). Sylvia Rivera, 50, Figure in Birth of the Gay Liberation Movement. New York Times
- ^ Wilchins, Riki (February 27, 2002). A Woman for Her Time: In Memory of Stonewall Warrior Sylvia Rivera. Village Voice
- ^ a b Bronski, Michael (April 2002). This article is about a New York newspaper For the Ottawa Hills Ohio magazine see The Village Voice of Ottawa Hills. Sylvia Rivera: 1951-2002. Z Magazine
- ^ Transgender Activist Sylvia Rivera (1951 - 2002). via Human Rights Campaign Foundation
- ^ Sylvia Rivera's obituary via MCCNY
- ^ Withers, James (November 25, 2005). Remembering Sylvia Rivera: Though a divisive figure, trans activist and Stonewall rioter gets honored with street sign. New York Blade
See also
- Gay Liberation Front, Gay Activists Alliance
- Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries
- Stonewall Riots
External links
- Sylvia Rivera Law Project
- Sylvia's Place via Metropolitan Community Church of New York Homeless Youth Services
- Stonewall Veterans Association
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic