Marsha P. Johnson paved the way for so many – yet 33 years on her death remains a mystery

Marsha P. Johnson was bold, fearless, kind and complicated. A key activist in Stonewall, the Black trans drag artist also founded STAR to care for trans people, and was an enigma that anybody who met her could never forget. 

However, Marsha’s life ended abruptly at the age of just 46 in 1992 when her body was discovered in New York’s Hudson River. While she said the P in her name stood for ‘pay it no mind’, the story of her incredible life — and the circumstances in which she died — calls for the exact opposite. 

‘She was a visionary who held an idea of what the world could be at a time when conditions didn’t reflect that,’ says activist Tourmaline, who spent 20 years studying Marsha, and wrote the first biography and film Happy Birthday, Marsha! ‘There’s always a new facet of Marsha to discover; it’s been a beautiful unfolding in my life.’

The beginning of an unforgettable life

Marsha was born on August 24, 1945, in the small town of Elizabeth in New Jersey, as the fifth of seven siblings to factory worker Malcolm and housekeeper Alberta. From five years old, she wore dresses, but sadly felt pressured to stop after enduring bullying and being sexually assaulted by a teenage boy.

Despite the hardships, the cultural icon found things to inspire happiness, such as the annual town parades that she’d watch with wonder, not knowing one day she’d march in the first Pride parade. ‘There’s a lot of this resonance throughout her life,’ Tourmaline tells Metro, adding that religion was also a thread. ‘She was in constant conversation with God.

‘When wondering what life could be like in New York, she told God, “If you help me graduate, I’ll go into the gay community and find out what it’s about”. Remarkably, Marsha couldn’t imagine a God that wouldn’t want her to know about LGBTQIA+.’ In 1963, 17-year-old Marsha moved with $15, a bag of clothes, and dreams of becoming a star. 

Marsha quickly got a job waitressing in Times Square, and would often encounter trans women on the corner. One day, they asked for her name. She replied: ‘Mikey’, but they instead called her Michelle, before Marshall, and finally, Marsha. ‘I said that’s who I’m gonna be,’ Marsha later explained in an interview. ‘I just made myself Marsha. I just started wearing makeup and things, little drags every now and then, cause I figured that’s a cute little name.’ She added Johnson because of the Howard Johnson’s restaurant in New Jersey.

After embracing her identity, she tired of listening to customers ‘complain about their hamburgers’, and became curious about the sex work her friends engaged in. ‘It was a profound realisation of her power, but it was also filled with danger,’ explains Toumaline, who says Marsha was often abused by clients. 

Making her mark

In the 1960s, New York frequently criminalised gay people; if a person wasn’t wearing three articles of clothing associated with their gender assigned at birth, they could go to jail. To add to her struggles, Marsha didn’t have a permanent home, but there was one place she found respite: the thriving nightlife scene. 

One of the places that Marsha would frequent was the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. It’s where she was dancing to Marvin Gaye’s Heard it Through the Grapevine in the early hours of June 28, 1969. 

Mid-song, the police raided; it was a regular occurrence, but on that occasion, the queer community retaliated. They rioted, hit abusive police officers, and lit fires. ‘It was a collective moment of relief, rage, and righteous indignation that involved many people,’ explains Tourmaline.

Many saw Marsha lead the rebellion, throwing the first brick and stating, ‘I got my civil rights’ before fixing her makeup in a broken mirror shard. While shelater claimed not to be involved, it’s important to note that Marsha was living with psychiatric disabilities, and trauma can affect recall.

‘She said because it was her birthday, she wasn’t there. There’s this beautiful inconsistency; she saw what might have been,’ says Tourmaline.

Alongside friend and trans activist Sylvia Rivera, Marsha was at the forefront of turning that moment of resistance into a movement, helping organise the first Pride march a year later. Her ambition was ‘to see gay people liberated and free and to have equal rights that other people have in America.’ However, the pair became frustrated by the exclusion of trans people and those of colour, so they set up STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries). 

Marsha also had personal ambitions and wanted to be ‘one of the world’s most well-known drag queens’. She began performing with the drag group Hot Peaches in 1972, attracting the attention of many, including Andy Warhol, who immortalised her in prints.

A tragic end to a life well lived

Marsha was diagnosed with HIV in 1990, but she still devoted herself to caregiving, spending time sitting with patients on their deathbeds, and communicating that others should not be afraid of people with the disease. The epidemic is partly why anti-LBGTQ+ violence peaked in 1992, says Tourmaline.

Tragically Marsha’s body was found in the Hudson River on July 6 that year. 

Despite trauma to her head, police immediately ruled it a suicide. ‘There was a lack of investigation around it, and it was a reflection of how little Black trans people mattered to the state and police,’ says Tourmaline. 

Although Marsha did struggle with her mental health, activists have also pointed out that the lack of mental health and sexual health services, and HIV/AIDs care could have contributed to a breakdown – while many close to her didn’t believe that she would kill herself.

The campaign group Justice for Martha began with the community gathering every day at the site of her body’s discovery and keeping vigil. It led to people coming forward, including one witness who claimed to see four men harassing Marsha and calling her a homophobic slur on July 4. Years later, in 1997, he told Randy Wicker, who led the campaign for his friend, that he’d heard someone brag about killing a person called Marsha in a bar.

After decades of activism, including organised marches and direct demands of the police, in 2002, Marsha’s cause of death was finally reclassified as a drowning from an undetermined cause. A decade later, it was officially acknowledged as a possible homicide, yet the case remains unsolved.

The legacy of Marsha

It was so crowded at Marsha’s funeral that people had to stand outside the church, but somehow, her incredible life hasn’t always had the recognition it deserves, saysTourmaline. ‘Enough people don’t know about Marsha because of the isms, but happily, I’m seeing things change,’ she tells Metro. ‘She is inspiring so many.’

The activist’s legacy is being upheld through various means, including Raquel Willis’ award-winning podcast Afterlives, which features archival interviews and conversations with friends to explore her life, and of course, Tourmaline’s book, The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson.

Actress Laverne Cox has used her platform to stress that what Marsha and Sylvia did for the trans movement must never be forgotten, while YouTuber Nikkie de Jager used Marsha as a fashion reference at the 2021 Met Gala. She has also been the subject of many documentaries, including The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, which is streaming on Netflix and documents Victoria Cruz’s fight for justice surrounding her death.

In 2019, Marsha and Sylvia were announced as the subjects of a monument called She Built NYC, which is set to be the first in the state to honour transgender women. A year later, a waterfront park in Brooklyn was named after Marsha. 

For Tourmaline, Marsha’s impact has been personal: ‘At 19, I moved to New York from Massachusetts with my light dimmed down, but learning about Marsha was a catalyst to be the full exuberant me.

‘She taught us it’s a gift to be all of who we are.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Josie.Copson@metro.co.uk 

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