Day 8: Sylvia Rivera – Street Trans Revolutionary.
Sylvia Rivera (1951–2002), a Puerto Rican-Venezuelan activist, was one of the loudest, fiercest voices of queer liberation. As a young trans woman in New York City, she knew what it meant to survive on the margins, homeless, hustling, and often unwelcome in both straight and queer spaces. Yet from that struggle, Sylvia built movements.
In 1970, alongside her friend Marsha P. Johnson, she co-founded STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), one of the first organizations dedicated to supporting trans and homeless youth. STAR ran a house where young people could find food, shelter, and care. Sylvia became a tireless advocate, demanding that the early gay rights movement include trans people, sex workers, and the unhoused, not just those who fit into “respectable” categories.
Her speeches and protests shook queer spaces that tried to push her out. At the 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day Rally, Sylvia famously took the stage to call out exclusion, shouting: “You go to bars because of what drag queens did for you, and these bitches tell us to quit being ourselves!”
Even in later years, Sylvia kept fighting. She worked with trans youth organizations, pushed for anti-discrimination laws, and reminded the world that queer liberation means nothing if the most vulnerable are left behind.
“I have been beaten. I have been thrown in jail. I have lost my job. I have lost my apartment for gay liberation. And I’m still here.” – Sylvia Rivera
Her legacy lives on in every movement that centers trans lives, racial justice, and economic dignity. Sylvia Rivera reminds us that revolution begins on the streets and that no one can be left behind.
Learn More
- Book: Transgender History by Susan Stryker – A must-read book for all dedicated to the trans people who lived lives that made history.
- Watch: The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (Netflix) – A documentary that examines Marsha P. Johnson’s life and the controversy around her 1992 death.
- Connect and Support: Sylvia Rivera Law Project (SRLP) – Legal aid and advocacy group named for Sylvia Rivera, serving trans, intersex, and gender-nonconforming individuals.
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