From: NewNowNext
It’s Trans Awareness Week, when we celebrate those who are fighting for visibility and equality, and honor those we’ve lost to anti-trans violence and social stigma.
This week, Logo and MTV have launched a variety of programming spotlighting trans rights and issues, including the digital docu-series Beautiful As I Want To Be. And you can get more information from the National Center for Transgender Equality.
To celebrate, we pay tribute to five trans activists who blazed a trail for others to follow.
1
Sylvia Rivera
In 1970 Silvia Rivera marched in the original Christopher Street Liberation Day March and worked to get the New York City Gay Rights Bill passed.
In the years that followed, she and Marsha P. Johnson co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), fighting for the rights of this disenfranchised community.
Called the “conscience” of the LGBT community, Rivera was arrested countless times at demonstrations for political causes like Soul Force, the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization, and the NYC Homeless Coalition, in addition to protests on behalf of transgender rights.
She fought tireless to ensure that drag queens, trans men and women and other non-gender-conforming people wouldn’t be thrown under the bus by assimilationist gays looking for a quick fix.
In her later years, Rivera became an active in the the Metropolitan Community Church of New York, directing its food-service and trans-outreach programs. She received lifetime achievement awards from numerous groups and, in 2000, was invited to speak at World Pride in Rome.
Even on her deathbed in 2002, Rivera fought for her community—meeting with members of the Empire State Pride Agenda to push for the inclusion of trans rights in the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination bill facing the New York State Legislature.
Her legacy continues with the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, which protects minority and low-income members of the trans community from discrimination and violence.
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