Marsha P. Johnson & the Rise of Transgender Murders

On October 6th, Netflix released a documentary called “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.” The film follows Victoria Cruz, an LGBT rights activist, who is determined to bring light to the mystery surrounding the death of LGBT activist and transgender icon, Marsha P. Johnson.
Marsha P. Johnson was a New York-based drag queen and transgender woman who was one of the leaders of the Stonewall Riots that took place at the Stonewall Inn in June of 1969. In addition to this, Johnson also founded S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries), which helped provide resources for homeless transgender individuals living on the streets of New York City. She was widely loved and admired by members of the LGBT movement in the 1960’s through her death in 1992, which caused an uproar, due to the fact many pieces of evidence lead people to believe she was murdered, although law enforcement officials claimed her death a suicide and closed the case.
Marsha P. Johnson’s mysterious death was neither the first or last act of violence towards transgender individuals. This is not an issue that was left behind when Johnson died. 2016 was the deadliest year on record for transgender individuals. In 2015, 21 transgender people were killed in acts of hate crimes. In 2016, 27 transgender people were killed in acts of hate crimes. So far in 2017, 23 transgender murders have been reported. Most victims are transgender people of color, like Marsha P. Johnson.
Documentaries like this are important not only to tell LGBT history but also to raise awareness towards the murders that are still occurring today.

I encourage you to check out the documentary on Netflix for yourself and work towards making a positive change in the LGBT community to protect our transgender brothers and sisters.

Comments

  1. Rebecca LewisOctober 25, 2017 at 10:12 AM

    I'm all about watching documentary, and i will definitely check this one out!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 2, 2017 at 2:33 PM

    This is heartbreaking information that society should definitely be made aware of. Targeting a group of people because you don't agree with their life isn't going to solve anything, and will just bring more hate and devastation. Sounds like an interesting documentary to learn more about.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownNovember 20, 2017 at 8:37 AM

    This sounds like pretty good documentary, definitely interested in watching it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There is Still Progress to be Made

Image
I was talking to a friend the other day about dating and falling for people. She is straight and started to talk about stealing first kisses while on first or second or third dates. This is when I realized the privilege that heterosexual couples have, that they may not realize. Straight couples can kiss in cafes, theatres, museums, and restaurants. Straight couples can kiss in public without having the fear that someone will fill their special moment with hate. When you are in a same-sex relationship, something as simple as holding hands with your partner in public holds anxiety and fear for what someone hateful may say. The LGBTQIA+ community prides itself on just that - pride. But sometimes pride is hard to hold when people don't believe that you deserve to love the one that you want to. It's easy to give in to the notion that because same-sex marriage is legalized in all 50 states (and more countries are jumping on the bandwagon every year,) that there aren't any mor...
Read more

Gaylist: A Playlist by Queer Artists

Hello friends! In complete honesty, I was planning on doing an entirely different post this week, but seeing as I injured my dominant arm earlier in the week, I had to change what I was planning on writing about, since I now type twice-as-slowly. That being said - I decided to give you a queer-dominated playlist to enjoy, with some facts about each queer artist featured. ...A "Gaylist", if you will! So please, enjoy the Spotify playlist below, accompanied by some queer-musician fun facts! Lady Gaga: It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that Lady Gaga fell onto this list. She has been a strong advocate of LGBTQIA+ rights since she hit the charts in 2008. Her song, “Born This Way” has become, some may say, an LGBTQIA+ anthem for this generation. Frank Ocean: Frank Ocean has widely become known as a queer icon, being one of, if not the first openly gay rapper in this generation of LGBTQIA+ individuals. His album “Blond”, was noted for adding to the lesse...
Read more