Feminist to Know: Sylvia Rivera

This blog post was written by our 2021 fall/winter intern, Grace!

Rivera was only 17 years old in 1969 when a popular bar and safe space for LGBTQ+ youth at the time, the Stonewall Inn, was raided by police, as “engaging in gay behavior in public” was criminalized. Rivera chose this moment to fight back against systemic homophobia because she was tired of being treated poorly for the way that she identified. Rivera (allegedly) threw the second molotov cocktail of the Stonewall riots, thus starting a six day long protest. Because of all the media coverage and attention that the protests gained, the Stonewall Riots were a catalyst for the Gay Liberation Movement. 

Rivera worked closely with fellow trans woman and self-described “drag queen” Marsha P. Johnson: the two led the protests that followed the initial Stonewall raid. Rivera continued working tirelessly for the movement, advocating for voices that were not often acknowledged by the Gay Liberation Movement, and making sure that people of all economic backgrounds, race, and identities within the LGBTQ+ community could have their voices heard, and live their lives in the open with dignity.

Sylvia and Marsha P. Johnson co-founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), a safehouse and political movement for transgender people in need of lodging, food, and community. Rivera’s influence in the Gay Liberation Movement created space for people of all identities to have a voice in the movement, and her intersectional work was absolutely crucial in making sure that the Gay Liberal Movement could be inclusive of all. Her work shows that gay rights means not only fighting for things like marriage equality, but for basic rights like housing accessibility often denied to gay, trans, people of color like her.