“STAR was for the street gay people, the street homeless people, and anybody that needed help at that time.” - Sylvia Rivera
Marsha P. Johnson
Leader in a New Frontier of Inclusivity in the LGBTQ+ Rights Movement
Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries
The Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R) were a radical group founded by Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. They liberated oppressed people living on the street and provided housing and food to members of their community.
“If they were hungry, we fed them. We fed half of the neighborhood because we had an abundance of food the kids liberated. It was a revolutionary thing.” - Sylvia Rivera
STAR fostered a strong sense of community amongst oppressed people, and was built on the foundation of unapologetically fighting for the equal rights of queer people and people of color who lived on the streets.
“We believe in picking up the gun, starting a revolution if necessary. Our main goal is to see gay people liberated and free and have equal rights that other people have in America.” - Marsha P. Johnson
“STAR was born in 1971 right after a sit-in we had at New York University with Gay Liberation Front. We took over Weinstein Hall for three days. It happened when there had been several gay dances thrown there, and all of a sudden the plug was pulled because the rich families were offended that queers… were having dances and their impressionable children were going to be harmed. So we ended up taking that place over.” - Sylvia Rivera
[ Bedoz, Ellen. "Come Out! No. 7 page 5." 1970. Digital Transgender Archive. ]
[ Fink, Leonard. "Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries at the Christopher Street Liberation Day March, 1973." 1973. Digital Transgender Archive. ]
STAR members drafted a manifesto outlining their goals, and within it they explained that their goals was to liberate all oppressed people. These socialist ideas provided the framework for the modern lgbtq+ movement, emphasizing the importance of community and working together to achieve a common goal for the good of the people.
“We want a revolutionary peoples’ government, where transvestites, street people, women, homosexuals, blacks, puerto ricans, indians, and all oppressed people are free, and not f*cked over by this government who treats us like the scum of the earth and kills us off like flies, one by one, and throws us into jail to rot.” - STAR Manifesto