Sexual revolution can look like 70’s hippies laying on a lawn about to have an orgie. It can look like Ru paul, Cardi, or Beyonce. It can look like TikTok. However, without Marsha P. Johnson and the Stonewall Inn Riots, the world wouldn’t look the way it does today. In fact, it’s not an exaggeration to say Marsha. P. Johnson was the Rosa Parks of the LGBTQ movement.
Being black, poor, gay and gender nonconforming, Marsha P. Johnson (the P. stands for ‘Pay It No Mind’ btw) knew more than most about what it meant to be marginalised. And she also knew that the most powerful thing you can do is be yourself, honey. We want to honor her for the work she did to liberate sexuality and praise her memory for how effortlessly she stood in her strength.
As well as an activist, Johnson was a drag artist, a sex worker, and an indelible part of street life in New York’s Greenwich Village for three decades.
“I was no one, nobody, from Nowheresville, until I became a drag queen,” Johnson said in a 1992 interview. This quote inspires us to dig a little deeper and find our own avatars that make us feel the most alive and real. For Marsha it was drag, for you it may be kink, or exploring a different avenue of porn. What would make you feel sexually liberated? It’s time for all of us to explore and move through our murky societal depths and question these norms. Freedom is waiting.
Whatever your sexual identity or exploration may be, rest assured Saint Marsha is there to encourage you to be your most wild and sensual self. Maybe she’s the voice we hear inside our heads when we dare to do something different. That voice that says, “I have to be this. I have to live this.” I’ve personally added a little red flower to my altar at home to remind me of her smile, beauty, and all she stands for. I’ve been surprised at my renewed sense of confidence ever since.
It’s been nearly 30 years since her death in 1992, and we’re seeing more acceptance of LGBTQIAPK rights. As if she was a flower sowing seeds, Marsha’s death only encouraged more to rise up and fight for inclusion. As recently as January 2020, President Biden chose Rachel Levine, as his assistant secretary of health. Levine is the first ever openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the US Senate. This is a huge step forward in governmental and police acceptance. There’s much more work to do though!
According to a 2019 report, 331 trans and gender diverse people were killed across the world, including one in the UK and nine in Europe. And those are only the ones that were recorded. Unfortunately most just disappear, or their homicide cases go cold.
Learning from Johnson’s example, the fight for equality and acceptance continues. If you feel called to donate your time or money, check out Marsha’s organization website here, which helps to support and defend Black Trans people and expand COVID relief efforts. We also recommend watching POSE (explores the 1980’s drag ball scene), or The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (a documentary that follows friends of Marsha’s still fighting for justice in her memory).
Here at The Good Good, we want to challenge you to follow your unique path to pleasure too, and greet it with the same huge smile that Marsha ‘Pay It No Mind’ Johnson greeted life everyday she was alive.