Trans Women and their Contributions Through History by Nathan Thompson: 3D Gallery

Christine Jorgensen

Christine Jorgensen was the first public figure to get sex reassignment surgery (The Queer History Podcast). Jorgensen presented herself as hyper-feminine because “unlike other women [she] had to be super-female. [She] couldn’t have a single masculine trait” (Skidmore, 2011). Jorgensen's whiteness, middle-class background, having her family’s acceptance, being honorably discharged from the military, and aligning herself with heteronormativity were other factors that led her to achieve acceptance within society as a trans woman. All these factors allowed her to be known as “the good transsexual.” Many trans women emerged after Jorgensen such as Charlotte McLeod, Tamara Adel Rees, Marta Olmos Ramiro, Laverne Peterson, and Delisa Newton. However, none of these women could live up to Jorgensen’s image due her unique combination of factors that allowed her to become society’s expectation of what a trans woman should be.

Press Reception

This is a picture of Christine Jorgensen speaking about her life as the first public trans individual at a press reception. As the first public trans woman, journalists waited for her at the airport with the “key concern [of] whether Jorgensen made a convincing woman” when she returned home from Denmark after her surgery (Meyerowitz, 2006). However, as we’ll see later on, not every trans person could “pass” as well as Jorgensen could. Her ability to pass intrigued people and helped give her a platform in which she could speak about being trans. Jorgensen's public lectures such as the one pictured helped people better understand what it meant to be transgender. As Jorgensen got older, she would move away from her more heteronormative views and begin to join activists in the 1970s and 1980s by expressing “her opposition to sexism and anti-gay initiatives, but [she] mostly spoke out in favor of transsexual rights” (Meyerowitz, 2006).

Newspaper Headline

This newspaper headline is one of the pieces of media that we've come to know Jorgensen for. This article title highlights both Jorgensen’s military service and her ability to pass as a “blonde beauty.” We also know about Jorgensen from her autobiography, the film about her life, and her past interviews. During one interview, Jorgensen was asked whether she was a man or a woman. Her response to the interviewer was that he “seem[ed] to assume that every person is either a man or a woman . . . Each person is both in varying degrees . . . I’m more of a woman than I am a man” (Meyerowitz, 2006). This was important because it started to present masculinity and femininity on a single spectrum rather than two fixed categories that people had to fit in. The article which puts an image of Jorgensen presenting as feminine next to one of her presenting as masculine emphasizes the spectrum of gender.

Sylvia Rivera

Sylvia Rivera was one of the leaders within the Gay Liberation Movement who fought for equal rights for the queer community. Just like many trans people, Rivera knew who she was from an early age but would get in trouble for expressing interest in opposite-sex related items. Rivera left home at 10 years old to spare her grandmother from any suffering related to her behavior (Making Gay History). As a trans Latina woman, Rivera hustled in order to support herself and was often harassed/arrested by police for being herself. Rivera would be arrested with the intent to prostitute and with “upper-head female impersonation” if she had her hair done and makeup on (Making Gay History). This, however, did not stop her from becoming the strong activist that she would become.

Rivera's Activism

Rivera was very important to the Gay Liberation Movement for several reasons. Not only was Rivera present at the Stonewall Riots in 1969, but she also petitioned for gay rights on 42nd street for the Gay Activists Alliance, or GAA, where she would be arrested (Making Gay History). The GAA would often host dances at NYU, but the university turned them away one day. Bob Kohler, a founder of the Gay Liberation Front, helped organize a sit-in that would go on to last five days to protest NYU’s discrimination. The sit-in was led by trans people of color and women—many who would later join STAR (Making Gay History). Rivera founded Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with Marsha P. Johnson in 1970. STAR provided homeless trans and gender non-conforming youth with food, shelter, and legal support. Sadly, STAR did not receive the support of other organizations within the Gay Liberation Movement and disbanded in 1973. The image above is Rivera marching on behalf of her organization STAR. Rivera would also eventually help to pass the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act in New York in 2002. This law would protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Marsha P. Johnson

Marsha P. Johnson was another powerful leader within the Gay Liberation Movement. She was known as the Saint of Christopher Street due to her friendliness and generosity towards her community. In the documentary, Pay It No Mind: The Life and Times of Marsha P. Johnson, Johnson’s friends describe her as giving a “blessed presence and encouragement to be who you wanted to be” (Pay It No Mind). However, Johnson was often treated very poorly by society, similar to Sylvia Rivera, because she was a trans woman of color. Johnson recalled how when she would be caught engaging in sex work, the police would treat her as if she had murdered someone (Pay It No Mind). Even within her own community, Johnson would be treated unfairly. Harry Cipraid was in charge of the 1978 Pride Festival in New York and tried to ban Johnson and other trans people from the parade (Pay It No Mind).

Gay Liberation

Johnson is pictured above handing out flyers in support of gay students at New York University and to get people to acknowledge and/or join the overall Gay Liberation Movement. Marsha P. Johnson was very vocal about the changes she wanted to see occur within society regarding rights for queer people. Johnson was active at gay rights demonstrations, helped co-found STAR with Sylvia Rivera, and she took care of her community through gifts/donations and advice. When the AIDS epidemic surfaced, Johnson began to advocate for people with HIV/AIDS and took care of those who needed care. Johnson said that she knew “tons of people that have been sick with AIDS. [She didn’t] think you should be ashamed of anybody that has AIDS. [She thought] you should stand as close to them as you can and help them out as much as you can” (Pay It No Mind).

The Stonewall Inn

The famous Stonewall Inn is pictured above. Johnson is widely known for her role in the Stonewall Riots. When police unexpectedly raided the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, the patrons decided to resist. Johnson was among the first to physically resist when she was asked to show her identification. Instead of complying, she threw a shot glass at a mirror and said, "I got my civil rights!" The GAA referred to this as “the shot glass that was heard around the world” (Pay It No Mind). Johnson’s act of resistance helped to show that queer people didn’t have to give in to the unjust treatment by the police and inspired others to resist as well. This led to what we know as the Stonewall Riots.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy spent over 40 years advocating for trans rights and trying to change how trans women of color are treated within the criminal justice system. She is also one of the last trans women of color still alive who participated in the Stonewall Riots (Major!). Like many before her, Miss Major’s family struggled to accept her trans identity. Her mother was convinced that it was a phase that Miss Major would grow out of, and her sister burned all the family’s pictures of Miss Major (Major!). Miss Major had been arrested for her involvement with sex work and sent to the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York. Upon her release, she decided to change her hair. She was then charged with trying to change her appearance in order to abscond from parole and sent to the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York. This is where she met Frank Smith, another prisoner, who help educate and politicize her on prison situations. This is where Miss Major’s activism career began. Miss Major may be the most well known for her work with the Transgender, Gender-Variant, and Intersex Justice Project.

TGIJP Logo

The image above is the logo for the Transgender, Gender-Variant, and Intersex Justice Project of which Miss Major was the executive director until she retired in 2015. The TGIJP is an organization that works to end the unjust treatment of trans, gender-variant, and intersex people within prisons and the criminal justice system. One of Miss Major’s adoptive daughters, Janetta Johnson, “spent three and a half years in federal prison for a non-violent drug offense, [and] she spent six months in the secure housing unit (SHU)” (Major!). The SHU is meant to house inmates who are violent and a risk to others and are not allowed contact with others or partake in any recreation time. The United Nations views people being in “solitary confinement in excess of 15 days as torture” (Major!). This is just one example of unjust treatment Miss Major has fought against because “transgender women are overwhelmingly housed in men’s jails and prisons or put in solitary confinement for their ‘protection’” (Major!).

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Trans Women and their Contributions Through History by Nathan Thompson