Among activists of the period, it鈥檚 known as 鈥渢he shot glass heard round the world鈥� 鈥� the vessel that the late Marsha P. Johnson hurled into a barroom mirror during the June 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City.
As Teachers College Lecturer Gregory Payton notes in an opinion piece posted to the Columbia News site, Johnson鈥檚 act of defiance was emblematic of a since-obscured dimension of the 鈥渇oundational events鈥� of the Queer Rights Movement. 鈥淭hose who bravely resisted police harassment and fought to be treated with dignity and equality were overwhelmingly ,鈥� Payton writes, including many who have since devoted their lives to advocating for safe housing, employment and health care for all members of the LGBTQ community.
Gregory Payton, Lecturer in the Department of Counseling and Clinical Psychology
Yet 鈥渢hese achievements generally accrued to cisgender, White members of the community,鈥� says Payton, 鈥渨hile Trans community members, and, in particular, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Trans members, were marginalized within the very movement they began.鈥�
Those who bravely resisted police harassment and fought to be treated with dignity and equality were overwhelmingly transwomen of color.
鈥擥regory Payton, 麻豆原创 Lecturer
Noting that the (TDOV), which was held on March 31st, was created 鈥渢o counter the invisibility of Trans folk and recognize their roles in the Queer Rights Movement,鈥� Payton calls on readers 鈥渢o celebrate our trans family members鈥� and demand passage of the , currently before the Senate, which would expand protections for the queer community. to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity.