Born in 1951, Sylvia Rivera began her life as a drag queen at the ripe young
age of 10. While on the streets in the 1960s she became involved with the
Young Lords, the feminist movement and anti-war movement. She was present at
and participated in the Stonewall Rebellion, which was crucial to the
beginnings of the modern Queer rights movement in the U.S. She later became
a founding member of both the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Activists
Alliance. In 1970, she and the late Marsha P. Johnson founded STAR (Street
Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), a group dedicated to helping homeless
young street queens. STAR House was one of the first collective living
houses for transgender people. The early exploits of Star House are
recounted in Arthur Bell's Dancing the Gay Lib Blues.
Despite numerous setbacks in the 1970s denying the transgender roots of our
liberation movement, Sylvia remained a consistent mover and shaker, always
rising above the hypocrisy to call us forward. She co-founded the Stonewall
Riot Veterans organization. She was ever-present at the Pride March in June
and was on the organizing committee for the first Brooklyn Pride March in
1997 as well as 2001 Transworld III, the trans people of color conference.
She was an active leader of Metropolitan Gender Network. Her most recent
political activities centered on AIDS, homeless issues, and transgender
rights. In 1998 American Boyz named her the "Mother of all Transgender
People." The Puerto Rican Initiative for Development and Empowerment
celebrated her leadership in the Puerto Rican transgender, bisexual,
lesbian, and gay community. She took arrests at the Matthew Shepard
political funeral, the Amadou Diallo demonstration, and the 2000 St.
Patrick's Day demonstration.
Sylvia's life was featured in Martin Duberman's best selling book,
Stonewall, which was made into a 1996 motion picture. There is also a
chapter on Sylvia in Holding On: Dreamers, Visionaries, Eccentrics and
Other American Heroes, by David Isay and Harvey Wang. Leslie Feinberg
devoted a chapter to Sylvia in her most recent book. In 1999 both the Pride
Guide and the New York Times Magazine presented articles on Sylvia for their
commemorations of the 30th anniversary of Stonewall. In October, 1999,
Sylvia spoke before the Connecticut Stonewall Foundation on transgender
history, family and love. In June and July of 2000 she traveled to Italy to
speak at an international transgender conference and participated in the
first World Pride celebration in Rome. She resurrected STAR as Street
Transgender Action Revolutionaries to organize street transgenders to fight
against hate crimes and transphobic bigots and for civil rights in
education, housing and employment through direct action. STAR organized a
series of demonstrations for justice for Amanda Milan. Sylvia was the
Coordinator of the Food Pantry for Metropolitan Community Church of New
York, where she held membership. She found her true home and family in the
church, and on January 6th of 2002 received the sacrament of Baptism.
Wearing the colors of St. Barbara, she said that act represented a
recognition of the healing she had found in the church, and her commitment
to honor the gospel call to live and fight for just and right relationship
among all God's children.
