This Trans Icon’s Legacy is Much Bigger than Throwing a Brick
The first Pride was a riot. On June 28, 1969, a police raid on the Greenwich gay bar The Stonewall Inn led to an impromptu demonstration against state-sanctioned oppression of LGBTQ+ people. No single figure in queer history is as strongly associated with the Stonewall Riots as trans performance artist and activist Marsha P. Johnson, who is widely believed to have started the uprising by throwing the first brick. An iconic image of Marsha smiling vibrantly in a colorful flower crown can still be found on protest signs, murals, and Pride memorabilia. Her presence in the LGBTQ+ community today, three decades after her death, still looms large as something between a saint and a fairy godmother.
But to truly know our queer history, we must get to know Marsha P. Johnson as more than a smiling face in a flower crown or a thrower of bricks. In her forty-six years, Marsha intersected with many pivotal LGBTQ+ moments before and after Stonewall. And beyond her activism, Marsha was a real person with her own joys, faults, pains, and triumphs. It’s time we all heard her story.
Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline
Marsha is the new, definitive biography of trans icon Marsha P. Johnson, written by a next-generation trans icon, Tourmaline. Tourmaline is an activist, artist, writer, and filmmaker who found great inspiration for her work in the life of Marsha P. Johnson. Now one of the leading archivists of Marsha’s life, Tourmaline transformed her research into the 2018 short film Happy Birthday, Marsha!, a fictionalized account of the hours leading up to the Stonewall riots. Now, she’s used her archival findings and hours of interviews with Marsha’s friends and community to share a nuanced portrait of the icon’s life and legacy.
From her strict religious childhood in New Jersey to finding queer community in New York City to her marvelous drag and off-off-Broadway performances to her work fighting for Black trans lives and caring for AIDS patients, Marsha lived a life of passion, authenticity, and refusal to conform to societal standards. Her story is a testament to the power of embracing your true self and fighting for everyone to have that right.
“I wrote Marsha because she deserves a joyful, inspiring, and accessible biography that honors the fullness of her life,” Tourmaline shares in her introduction to Marsha’s story. “In her rapid journey from obscurity to counterculture symbol, many of her most fascinating and salacious stories have been lost along the way. It is time to tell the full story of Marsha P. Johnson in all its messy, infinite, beautiful glory.”
Tourmaline doesn’t shy away from the gritty, controversial, and painful moments in Marsha’s life. She embraces Marsha for all that she was: a dazzling performer, a dedicated friend and caretaker, a thrill-seeker, a spiritualist, a hellraiser, and so much more.
Rather than positioning this biography solely as a history for queer readers, Tourmaline believes everyone can learn from Marsha’s legacy. “Her story has the power to touch everyone, because everyone suffers from the social pressure to fit in and take the ‘normal’, pre-approved path in life. Marsha didn’t wait for the world to tell her she could be free; she told the world she already was free, and that they’d better catch up.”
Marsha is a moving work of nonfiction about a remarkable woman whose life continues to shape our world and fight for equal rights. Celebrate Marsha P. Johnson in all of her messy, queer, love-filled glory this Pride month and beyond with this powerful biography.
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This week, we’re highlighting a post discussing why it’s worth pursuing “underconsumption” in your reading life. In this era of amassing special and deluxe editions and crowding your shelves for the Tok, challenge yourself to consider a scaled-back approach to the bookish life. Read on for an excerpt and become an All Access member to unlock the full post.
One of the things that has provided some comfort for me during the recent horrors is underconsumption content on TikTok. Whether it’s Project Pan or the fact that, according to the Fashion Transparency Index, there is currently enough clothing on earth to clothe the next six generations, it’s a welcome break from being told what I should be buying. As a child, I used to adore watching TLC’s Clean Sweep. As an adult, I think I could probably stand to put all of my possessions out on a tarp on the lawn every so often. TikTok is an engine for consumerism, but somehow, it’s managed to plant a seed in my brain that goes against its own interests.
The why of underconsumption is a belief that we simply do not need all of the things that we have. It’s also a good way to build a practice of taking a breath before we chase that dopamine high of buying a new thing, of finding joy in the things that we create for ourselves. It’s made me look at how many of my hobbies don’t lead to the creation of anything new, not even ideas.
Of course, for some of us, underconsumption is an economic necessity. Most of us don’t live the lives we see reflected on our various feeds. With the will-they-or-won’t they of massive tariffs on many products coming in from other countries, the reality is that things are likely to get more expensive. This “trend” is really just showing how to make the most of what you have. Many books on shelves in the United States are printed in China, but are currently exempt from tariffs.
Why am I ruining a pure, good thing for you in these times, you ask? I’m going to try not to. I am simply here to offer suggestions that I myself will have trouble following. We strive for progress and not perfection. I am pretty sure that if I deleted the Libby app right now, heaven forbid, I would have enough unread books in my home to get me through an entire calendar year.
Sign up to become an All Access member for only $6/month and then click here to read the full, unlocked article. Level up your reading life with All Access membership and explore a full library of exclusive bonus content, including must-reads, deep dives, and reading challenge recommendations.
