Marsha “Pay it no Mind” Johnson
By Tyler Born
Marsha P. Johnson was a transwoman who became an important face to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community in New York City. She was recognized by being herself and fearing no judgment of the harassment and ridicule of dressing and living as a woman, while having the masculine features of a man. The hardships of a transgender individual were nothing new to Marsha who herself was living on the streets of New York without a permanent home or financial and living arrangements. This tended to be a normal struggle of transgender individuals. Marsha P. Johnson felt these people who wanted nothing more than to be their selves deserved support from the growing LGBT community in New York. Along with fellow transgender activist Sylvia Rivera she founded the Street Transvestite (now Transgender) Action Revolutionaries (STAR) to help others out there facing the struggles of an unaccepting society.
Born a male and named Malcolm Michaels, Marsha legally changed her name after 1966, when she moved from New Jersey to Greenwich Village permanently, to Marsha P. Johnson. When people would ask her what her middle name was, she replied, “Pay it no mind.” This response was intended to be a rhetorical answer to the question many had on their minds as to whether she was male or female. By putting “pay it no mind” in her name it deterred the public from asking the question she hated to receive.
Marsha was an eccentric woman who was known for her exotic hats and jewelry which stood out to the public and attracted attention to her. When she was wearing these items or any female clothing she was Marsha P. Johnson. But there were times when she went back to her male persona of Malcolm. As Robert Heide, an acquaintance of Marsha, explains, “He sometimes saw a demon emerge especially when she was in her male persona of Malcolm. I think we all have that to some degree, but apparently in Malcolm/Marsha’s case there was this real duality and it would take hold. There was a schizophrenic personality at work, for Malcolm Michaels could become a very nasty, vicious man, looking for fights"[1].
She was more comfortable and happy in her female persona as Marsha, and among others who also felt more comfortable in a persona that is different than the one they were born into she felt she could help. She lived in New York City’s Greenwich Village from 1966 until her death in 1992. Marsha was devoted to the alternative lifestyle she lived and the support of others who wanted to live their lives that way. Acceptance was not always easy to come by even living in the socially liberal part of the largest city in the United States. The rejection of this culture turned violent in 1969 during the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village of New York City which was known for the LGBT subculture.
Throughout Greenwich Village there were establishments such as bars and nightclubs that were controlled by the mafia and where people could buy drugs and have a place to do them. Gay bars and clubs had their place in Greenwich Village and to the growing number of LGBT individuals it meant acceptance and salvation. There were now places to meet others who were experiencing the same bigotry and become friends with more people rather than foes. On the night/morning for June 28, 1969 police in Greenwich Village raided a known gay bar The Stonewall Inn, which Marsha P. Johnson had been at, and a violent riot followed. Robert Heide remembers the role Marsha played the night of the riots, “just saw her in the middle of the whole thing, screaming and yelling and throwing rocks and almost like Molly Pitcher in the Revolution or something"[2]. Heide and several others interviewed for David Carter’s book, Stonewall, claim that Marsha was the person who “really started it” on the first night of the riots[3]. Sylvia Rivera recalls about the night of the Stonewall riots, “This was started by the street queens of that era, which I was part of, Marsha P. Johnson, and many others that are not here"[4]. The Stonewall Riots had become the spark that ignited transgender rights and activism through the efforts of Marsha P. Johnson and other fellow activists and supporters.
Along with fellow transgender activist and friend, Sylvia Rivera, they founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). They were able to organize with homeless and or runaway transgender individuals to build a community and live together. According to Rivera, “STAR was for the street gay people, the street homeless people, and anybody that needed help at that time"[5]. Keeping other transgenders off the streets was the primary goal of STAR. Many transgenders face violence on the streets from intolerant people. The responsibilities of the “children” or “youth” of the house were to find food for the house, a relatively safe responsibility compared to prostitution that Marsha had experienced in her youth to pay rent where violence occurred regularly and lives were always at risk. Marsha referred to anyone brought off the streets into the STAR homes as “children.” She was referred to as the Queen Mother. The Queen aspect came from her love of dressing in drag and performing at drag balls. The Mother aspect came from the matriarchal structure of the STAR house as a way to not live under patriarchal structure where the man is the head of the household.
Another activist group Marsha became a part of after the Stonewall Riots was the Gay Liberation Front (GLF). The GLF sought political action and protection for citizens based on their sexual orientation or behavior against oppressive laws and unequal ethics. A 1970s newspaper titled Come Out stated, “Gay Liberation Front welcomes any gay person, regardless of sex, race, age or social behavior. Though some other gay organizations may be embarrassed by drags or transvestites, GLF believes that we should accept all of our brothers and sisters unconditionally[6]. GLF gave acceptance to individuals like Marsha and Sylvia, who did not identify as gay, but rather transgender.
Along with STAR and GLF activism, Marsha posed for a collection of artist Andy Warhol’s paintings and photographs. “Ladies and gentleman” was the title of one of Warhol’s works that Marsha posed for in 1975. In the painting Marsha is not mentioned by name, or any of the male to female transgenders. Taro Nettleton explains why, “If ‘giving face’ through portraiture implies the recognizability of an individual, then this portfolio was doomed from the start, for the ladies and gentlemen pictured here have no proper names. Insofar as attaining face and face necessarily involved getting, having, or making a name for oneself, these sitters will never be stars. Hence their anonymity is of an entirely different order than ‘the anonymous identity of the stars.’[7]” Andy Warhol was a pop artist who lived in Greenwich Village and was popular among a variety of people but influential to the LGBTQ community. Warhol was gay and successful which inspired many throughout the community. Posing for Warhol meant Marsha would be seen by millions who view Warhol’s work who displayed the beauty and femininity of Marsha.
Marsha passed away on July 6, 1992. Her body was found in the Hudson River in New York. Police and investigators ruled her death as a suicide, but people who knew her and were close to her insisted she was not suicidal. Witnesses saw Marsha being harassed earlier in the day and wanted a full investigation of her death as a murder. There has been no criminal investigation to the death of Marsha P. Johnson.
Today Marsha’s legacy lives on within the LGBTQ community and beyond. On May 10, 2012 the second annual Chloe Awards were held in New York City. The Chloe Awards remember and honor ancestors of activism and activists that work today. At the event there are performances, a ceremony, and a dance party to celebrate those who paved the way for transgender activism. The awards were named after Chloe Dzubilo who was an HIV positive male to female transgender activist and artist who lived in the same neighborhood or New York as Marsha Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, and was the cultural and activist successor of Marsha and Sylvia. In 2011 Chloe passed away and as a tribute to her life and activism there began a public remembrance and celebration of the lives of others within the transgender community.
********************************************************************************************
Marsha P. Johnson (August 24, 1945 – July 6, 1992) was an African-American gay liberation[4][5] activist and self-identified drag queen.[6] Known as an outspoken advocate for gay rights, Johnson was one of the prominent figures in the vanguard of the Stonewall uprising in 1969.[4][7] A founding member of the Gay Liberation Front, Johnson co-founded the gay and transvestite advocacy organization S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), alongside close friend Sylvia Rivera.[8] A popular figure in New York City's gay and art scene, Johnson modeled for Andy Warhol, and performed onstage with the drag performance troupe, Hot Peaches.[4] Known for decades as a welcoming presence in the streets of Greenwich Village, Johnson was known as the "mayor of Christopher Street".[9] From 1987 through 1992, Johnson was an AIDS activist with ACT UP.[4]
Contents
[hide]Early life
Johnson was born Malcolm Michaels Jr. on August 24, 1945 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She had six siblings and her father, Malcolm Michaels Sr., was an assembly lineworker at General Motors while her mother, Alberta Claiborne, was a housekeeper. Johnson attended an African Methodist Episcopal Church as a child and was a devout Christian throughout her life, often taking an interest in Catholicism and other faiths.[3] Johnson first began wearing dresses at the age of five but stopped temporarily because she would get harassed by boys who lived near her house. In a 1992 interview, she described being the young victim of sexual assault by an adolescent.[10][11] Johnson's mother told her that being homosexual is like being "lower than a dog",[12] but Johnson said that her mother was unaware of the LGBT community. After Johnson graduated from the former Edison High School (now the Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Academy) in Elizabeth in 1963, she left her home for New York City with $15 and a bag of clothes.[3] She waited on tables after moving to Greenwich Village in 1966.[13][14]
Performance and modeling
Johnson initially called herself Black Marsha but later decided on Marsha P. Johnson as her "drag queen name", getting Johnson from the restaurant Howard Johnson'son 42nd Street. She said that the P stood for Pay it no mind[15] and used the phrase sarcastically when questioned about her gender, saying "It stands for pay it no mind".[16] She said the phrase once to a judge, who was humored by it and released her.
Johnson said her style of drag was not serious, high drag, because she could not afford to purchase clothing from expensive stores.[17] She received leftover flowers after sleeping under tables used for sorting flowers in the Flower District of Manhattan, and was known for placing flowers in her hair.[18] Her tall and slender build led her to wear robes and shiny dresses, red plastic high heels, and bright wigs, which drew attention toward her.[3]
Johnson sang and performed as a member of J. Camicias' international, NYC-based, drag performance troupe, Hot Peaches in 1972.[19][20] as well as in The Angels of Light, which was an offshoot of the similar drag troupe, the Cockettes, later formed by Hibiscus and other members of the collective.[21] In 1973, Johnson performed the role of "The Gypsy Queen" in the Angels' production, "The Enchanted Miracle", about the Comet Kohoutek.[22] In 1975, Johnson was photographed by famed artist Andy Warhol, as part of a "Ladies and Gentlemen" series of Polaroids.[23][22]
Stonewall uprising and other activism
Johnson claimed she was one of the first drag queens to go to the Stonewall Inn after they began allowing women and drag queens inside; it was previously a bar for only gay men.[24] On the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall uprising occurred. Many identify Johnson as being one of the first to fight back in the clashes with the police during the uprising.[25][23] Though Johnson is cited by some as having "started" the rebellion, Johnson herself disputed the account in 1987, stating she had arrived at around "2:00 [in the morning]", stating "the riots had already started" when she arrived and that the Stonewall building "was on fire" after cops set it on fire.[24] The riots reportedly started at around 1:20 that morning.[25] According to David Carter, in the book, Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Revolution, it was stated Johnson on the first night, "threw a shot glass at a mirror in the torched bar screaming, 'I got my civil rights'", while on the second night, Johnson "climbed on top of a lamppost" and dropped a heavy object into the windshield of a police car.[25] Carter listed Johnson alongside Jackie Hormona and Zazu Nova as being the "three individuals known to have been in the vanguard" of the escalation of the Stonewall uprising.[25]
Following the Stonewall uprising, Johnson joined the Gay Liberation Front and participated in the first Christopher Street Liberation Pride rally on the first anniversary of the Stonewall rebellion in June 1970. One of Johnson's most notable direct actions occurred when she and fellow GLF members staged a sit-in protest at Weinstein Hall at New York University in August 1970 where administrators had canceled a dance where they found that it was sponsored by gay organizations.[26] Shortly after that, she and close friend Sylvia Rivera co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) organization (initially titled Street Transvestites Actual Revolutionaries), and the two of them were a visible presence at gay liberation marches and other radical political actions.[4] In 1973, Johnson and Rivera were banned from participating in the gay pride parade by the gay and lesbian committee who were administering the event stating they "weren't gonna allow drag queens" at their marches claiming they were "giving them a bad name".[4] Their response was to march defiantly ahead of the parade.[27][4] During one LGBT rally in the early '70s, a reporter asked her why she was there, Johnson shouted to the microphone, "Darling, I want my gay rights now!"[28]
During another incident around this time, which landed Johnson in court, she was confronted by police officers for hustling in New York, and when they went to apprehend her, she hit them with her handbag, which contained two bricks. When Johnson was asked by the judge why she was hustling, Johnson explained she was trying to secure enough money for her husband's tombstone. During a time when same-sex marriage was illegal in the United States, the judge asked her what "happened to this alleged husband", Johnson responded, "Pigs killed him".[29] Initially sentenced to 90 days in prison for the assault, Johnson's lawyer eventually convinced the judge to send her to Bellevue instead.[29]
With Rivera, Johnson established the S.T.A.R. house, the first shelter for gay and trans street kids in 1972, and paid the rent for it with money they made themselves as sex workers.[30] Marsha was a "drag mother" of STAR House, getting together food and clothing to help support the young drag queens, trans women, gender nonconformists and other gay street kids living on the Christopher Street docks or in their house on the Lower East Side of New York.[31] The S.T.A.R. House was short-lived but became a legendary model for future generations.[citation needed]
In the 1980s Johnson continued her street activism as a respected organizer and marshal with ACT UP. In 1992, when George Segal's Stonewall memorial was moved to Christopher Street from Ohio to recognize the gay liberation movement, Johnson commented, "How many people have died for these two little statues to be placed in the park to recognize gay people? How many years does it take for people to see that we're all brothers and sisters and human beings in the human race? I mean how many years does it take for people to see that? We're all in this rat race together."[32]
Mental health and death
By 1966, Johnson lived on the streets[citation needed] and engaged in survival sex.[33] In connection with her prostitution, Johnson was arrested many times—by her count, over 100—and was also shot once, in the late-1970s.[3] Johnson spoke of first having a mental breakdown in 1970.[34] According to Bob Kohler, Johnson would walk naked up Christopher Street and be taken away for two or three months to be treated with chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic medication. Upon returning, the medication would wear off over the course of one month and she would then return to normal.[35]
Though generally regarded as "generous and warmhearted" under her Marsha persona, Johnson's dark side sometimes emerged under Johnson's "male persona as Malcolm",[36] often resulting in Johnson being hospitalized and sedated.[25] During those moments when Johnson's violent side emerged, according to an acquaintance Robert Heide, Johnson could be aggressive and short-tempered and speak in a deeper voice and, as Malcolm, would "become a very nasty, vicious man, looking for fights".[36] This dual personality of Johnson's has been described as "a schizophrenic personality at work".[25] A 1979 Village Voice article titled "The Drag of Politics" by Steven Watson reported that Johnson's saintly personality was "volatile" and listed a roster of gay bars from which she had been banned.[25] At the time of her death in 1992, Johnson was said to be increasingly sick and in a fragile state, according to Wicker.[37]
Shortly after the 1992 pride parade, Johnson's body was discovered floating in the Hudson River.[38] Police initially ruled the death a suicide,[23] but Johnson's friends and other members of the local community insisted Johnson was not suicidal and noted that the back of Johnson's head had a massive wound.[39][40] According to Sylvia Rivera, their friend Bob Kohler believed Johnson had committed suicide due to her ever-increasing fragile state, which Rivera herself disputed, claiming she and Johnson had "made a pact" to "cross the 'river Jordan' (aka Hudson River) together".[41] Johnson's close friend and roommate, Randy Wicker, later said that Johnson may have hallucinated and walked into the river, or that she may have jumped into the river to escape her harassers.[37]
Several people came forward to say they had seen Johnson harassed by a group of "thugs" who had also robbed people.[39][40] According to Wicker, a witness saw a neighborhood resident fighting with Johnson on July 4, 1992. During the fight he used a homophobic slur, and later bragged to someone at a bar that he had killed a drag queen named Marsha. The witness was not successful in relaying this information to the police.[9] Other locals stated later that law enforcement was not interested in investigating Johnson's death.[42] Johnson was cremated and her ashes were released over the river by her friends following a funeral at the local church. Police allowed Seventh Avenue to be closed while her ashes were carried to the river.[43]
In November 2012, activist Mariah Lopez succeeded in getting the New York police department to reopen the case as a possible homicide.[9]
Tributes
Only ten days before her death, Johnson gave an extensive, filmed interview which forms the core of the 2012 documentary, Pay it No Mind: The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson, directed by Michael Kasino and Richard Morrison.[4] Also interviewed are many of Johnson's closest friends. Agosto Machado, performer and friend of Johnson's, refers to her as a "bodhisattva".[44][clarification needed]
Johnson appears as a character in two fictional film dramas that are based on real events, including Stonewall (2015), where she is played by Otoja Abit,[45] and Happy Birthday, Marsha! (2016), where she is played by Mya Taylor. Both movies are creative interpretations, inspired by the Stonewall uprising.
The 2017 documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson,[46] follows trans woman Victoria Cruz of the Anti-Violence Project as she investigates Johnson's murder.[47] Like Pay It No Mind, it relies on archival footage and interviews.
New York City artist Anohni produced multiple tributes to Johnson, including baroque pop band Antony and the Johnsons[31] (named in Johnson's honor), and a 1995 play about Johnson, "The Ascension of Marsha P. Johnson."[48]
American drag queen and TV personality RuPaul has called Johnson an inspiration, describing her as "the true Drag Mother."[16] During an episode of his show RuPaul's Drag Race in 2012, RuPaul told her contestants that Johnson "paved the way for all of [them]".[49]
In 2018 the New York Times published a belated obituary for her.[50]
No comments:
Post a Comment