Sylvia gay
Spotlight No 1: Sylvia Rivera
Sylvia Rivera (), trans and queer rights activist
Born in New York City to a Puerto Rican and Venezeulan family, Sylvia is most known as one of the inciters of the Stonewall Riots in New York City. Sylvia was a tireless advocate for the trans and queer community members who have been marginalized within what was once known as the the “gay rights” movement.
Rivera was born in into a male body, to an absent father and a mother who died by suicide when she was just 3. Raised by her grandmother, she began experimenting with gender by trying on her clothes and experimenting with her make-up, but was severely punished for doing so. Rejected by her family and peers because of her identity, she started living on the streets and hustling to survive by age Forming a chosen family of drag queens and activists, Rivera soon became involved in Puerto Rican and African American youth activism, and eventually with the Young Lords and the Black Panthers. In these years Rivera crossed paths with fellow trans activist Marsha P. Johnson, beginning a lifelong frien
A veteran of the Stonewall Inn uprising, Sylvia Rivera was a tireless advocate for those silenced and disregarded by larger movements. Throughout her life, she fought against the exclusion of transgender people, especially transgender people of color, from the larger movement for gay rights.
Rivera was born in New York City in to a father from Puerto Rico and a mother from Venezuela. She was assigned male at birth. Rivera had an incredibly adj childhood. Her father was absent and her mother died by suicide when Rivera was 3 years old. Raised by her grandmother, Rivera began experimenting with clothing and makeup at a young age. She was beaten for doing so and, after being attacked on a school playground in sixth grade by another pupil, suspended from school for a week. Rivera ran away from home at age 11 and became a victim of sexual exploitation around 42nd Street.
In , Rivera met Marsha P. Johnson and it changed her life. Johnson, an African American self-identified drag queen and activist, was also battling exclusion in a movement for gay rights that did not embrace h
Sylvia Gay, 75, of Cincinnati, Ohio passed away unexpectedly on Friday, June 19, She was born on January 17, in Cincinnati, Ohio to Frank Carrington and Alice Davis. She matriculated at Cincinnati Public Schools, attending Taft High School. Sylvia worked for Long View Mental Health Institute for many years. During her free time she loved to spend time with family at gatherings and was always there for anyone who needed help. While providing care at her place of residence in the Sands Senior Building, Sylvia showcased her passion to cook, which she became known for making her favorite potato salad and peach cobbler. Sylvia leaves to cherish her memory: her children, Barry Gay and Antoinette Gay-Hunter; sister, Janice Crenshaw; brothers, Donald and David Crenshaw; eleven grandchildren, Laquesha Gay, Arnold Gay, Krystle Jones, Brittany Hunter, Jordan, Angelique, Jaden, Barrisha, Araya, Barry, Jr., and Barreece Gay; special friend, Ms. Joyce; and a host of loving family and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Raymond Crenshaw; son, Arnold Gay; and granddaughte
Sylvia Rivera — Part 1
Episode Notes
A never-before-heard conversation with trans icon and self-proclaimed Stonewall veteran Sylvia Rivera. Hear Sylvia confer the first night of the June uprising and her struggle for recognition in the LGBTQ rights movement.
Episode first published October 13,
———
From Eric Marcus: Sylvia Rivera would hold loved knowing that in the years since her death in she’d become an icon—a symbol of LGBTQ people fighting back against police repression and fighting for respect and equal she’d also verb you to know that she was a human being. Sylvia was born in the Bronx in At 11 years old, the self-described effeminate child establish herself homeless and hustling on 42nd Street to scratch out enough funds to get was all of 17 at the time that she recalled crossing paths with history at the Stonewall Inn on the night of June 28, She died at 50, having struggled with addictio