The new deaths of two figures in the gay civil rights motion are a striking reminder of to what degree much time has passed since the heated night in June 1969 when police raided the Stonewall Inn and the patrons decided to fight back.

The new deaths of two figures in the gay civil rights motion are a striking reminder of to what degree much time has passed since the heated night in June 1969 when police raided the Stonewall Inn and the patrons decided to fight back. the two Sylvia Rivera, legendary transsexual activist who participated in the ensuing riots, and John Paul Hudson organizer of recent York City's first gay pride march, died within the same week, leaving a certain quantity of community members to wonder if enough is being done to record and commemorate the lives and contributions of pioneering activists.

"Sylvia's death reminds us that the folks involved in the early days are nearing the extreme point of their lives," said Eric Marcus, author of the forthcoming Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights. "So if there arestories to be told, they should be told now."

"I'm not missing a minute of this--it's the revolution!" Rivera exclaimed as she joined the riots, heeding the call to action at age 17 Before her toils with substance abuse and homelessnes later in life, Rivera established herself as a force to be computeed with. When the Gay Activists Alliance of strange York made it clear that transvestites were not included in the gay civil rights agenda, Rivera projectile back with her now-famous line, "Hell hath no vehemence like a drag queen scorned." She died of liver cancer February 19 in strange York at the age of 50

A member of GAA who was formerly with the Mattachine Society, Hudson wrote the 1971 work The Gay Insider, a guide to recent York's gay scene. The following year he published undivided of the first nationwide gay travel guides, The Gay Insider USA. Hudson died in Honesdale, Pa., at 73 just a not many days after Rivera's death.

"The organized LGBT community understands the significance of these passings and wants to find a way to thank them for what they did, which has allowed us to do what we do," said Robb Leigh Davis, communications officer for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center in recent York City. "We're in discussions right now of what could be the best way to do that. We're definitely going to remember them and their contributions."

...

Home