Marsha P. Johnson was a black trans woman and an activist in the 60’s and 70’s. She was one of the founding members of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries or STAR; a refuge for homeless queer youth and sex workers. Providing food and shelter for the people in New York when they were at a vulnerable point in their lives. She was known at the time as the “mayor of Christopher Street”, since she had worked so hard at making the area a welcoming place for anyone to reside or visit.

Marsha was one of the first to go into the Stonewall Inn, known as a bar for gay men only, as a drag queen. At a time when being gay was seen as a mental illness and were frequently beaten by the police. On June 28, 1969, when Marsha was 23, the police raided the Stonewall Inn. The police forced over 200 people into the streets using excessive force.  She resisted arrest and that night jump-started a series of protests and riots to fight for gay rights. About a month after the riots and protests, there was a ground-breaking march, the first openly gay march took place.

In 1974, the Equality Act was written to amend the Civil Rights Act to make it illegal to discriminate against someone due to their sex. When this was written, people didn’t think to include the LGBTQA+ community.  A sad but true fact, this community of glorious people have been fired for no reason, denied medical care, denied housing and medical insurance, and even discharged from fighting for our great nation. 

On June 15th, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled six to three, that the existing federal law forbids job discrimination based on sexual orientation or transgender status. Until then, people could be fired from their job exclusively because of their sexual preference. With this ruling coming down during Pride month, what better way to celebrate than to be proud of who you are and still hold that nine to five. I cry tears of joy knowing that my friends and the rest of the LGBTQA+ community will now be able to work with less worry of being fired. We are finally moving one step in the right direction. 

However, Michigan is an “at-will” state, employers are still allowed to fire employees at any time for any reason. There are some limitations to this, but it is something that we need to continue to fight for to abolish to protect everyone!

Afterall, they aren’t special rights, they are human rights.

If not for Marsha and her bravery to continue fighting for what she believed in, we wouldn’t have Pride Month, there would be no Pride celebration, and the LGBTQA+ community would continue to have to hide still in fear of getting beaten by police and outcast by the rest of society. 

Today, we celebrate Marsha.

Unfortunately, she passed away in 1992, so she was unable to see the progress our country has made for the LGBTQA+ community. But I know if she was here, she would be in the streets leading protests for the #BlackLivesMatter movement and celebrating the Supreme Court ruling on June 15th.

Photos by Elise Kutt at Mod Bettie Portrait Boutique
Produced by: Beauty Beyond Drag Learn more

Red- Verona Sapphire

Orange- Ginger Ambrosia

Yellow- Star Buxom

Green- Alexa Vogel

Blue- Scarlett Rose Millionaire

Indigo- LaReine Devine

Violet- Amira Spade

Trans Pride Flag- Dice Santana

Written by Mod B Intern: Holly Engel

A marketing student with strengths in digital and traditional messaging to today's most sought after generations and demographics, Holly is currently the Intern for Marketing and Event Planning for us. Completing her Marketing Degree (B.S.) at Ferris State University next year, Holly has served as Vice President of Professional Development for the American Marketing Association at Ferris, a Top 20 Chapter of AMA internationally. She currently leads as Director of Crimson Consultants, the marketing firm of AMA Ferris developing messaging and outreach strategies for growing teams and entrepreneurs across West Michigan. Holly graduated from Rockford High School, is an accomplished equestrian, and volunteers her time and leadership to LGBTQIA+ and Black Lives Matter causes.