“We still feel oppression by other gay brothers. Gay sisters don’t think too bad of transvestites. Gay brothers do.”
- Marsha P. Johnson
Marsha P. Johnson
Leader in a New Frontier of Inclusivity in the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement
Transgender Inclusion in the Gay Community
Even though transgender people faced similar struggles to gay people, they also faced oppression with the gay community. Many gay people felt that they were less likely to be respected if their community was represented by transgender people or drag queens.
“Well, I went to [Gay Activists Alliance] one time and everybody turned around and looked. All these people that spoke to me there were people that I had known from when I had worked in the Gay Liberation Front community center, but they weren’t friendly at all.”
- Marsha P. Johnson
Although they were ostracized with the gay community, many transgender people participated in protests for gay rights, because many recognized themselves as members of the gay community as well as the transgender community.
[ Wandel, Richard C.. “Marsha P. Johnson at the March on Albany, 1971.” 1971. Digital Transgender Archive. ]
Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were denied access to events such as pride parades multiple times. At the parade for the fourth anniversary of Stonewall, a riot that both Johnson and Rivera were present at, they were denied entry to the parade on account of them being transgender. As an act of rebellion, they walked in front of the parade. Their actions opened the door for transgender inclusion in gay spaces, expressing that transgender people would not be silenced by cisgender people.
“The trans community has allowed, we have allowed the gay and lesbian community to speak for us. Times are changing.” - Sylvia Rivera