Marsha P. Johnson was born in August 24th, 1945 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She was daughter of Malcolm Micheals Sr., a factory worker, and Alberta Claiborne, a housekeeper, both African-American, and she was the fifth of seven children.

Since they were very young, Johnson already identified as a girl. She liked to wear dresses, hair ties, and play with dolls. But she grew up in a very conservative place where she was constantly misunderstood and repressed. At the time, the town was almost a hundred percent LGBTQphobic and had no tolerance for queer people. She also tells that she had suffered sexual violence from a thirteen year old teenager. So she left as fast as she could, due to her own safety. After graduating high school in 1963 on Edison High School, she had US$15.00 (fifteen dollars) and a dream. 

Now in New York City, Marsha adopted the "P" in her name, that stoods for "Pay It No Mind", sentence that became her watchword. She was a declared TRANSVESTITE! She was proud of who she was. A gay person, a transvestite and a drag queen.

Marsha never forgot her roots and still kept contact with her family in New Jersey. Living in New York was better but it wasn't the perfect life yet. She got a job as a waitress until 1966 and after that she went to the West Village, a neighborhood where she got to meet with various queer people. Unfortunately due the lack of opportunities Johnson had to become a sex worker so she could live. She declared: "My life was built around sex and gay liberation, being a drag queen and sex worker." 

Marsha became friends with Sylvia Rivera, that became her partner on fight. Together they've created the 'STAR' (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), an organization that helped a lot of young and homeless trans peers. 

She was constantly arrested and also militated for the fight and awareness of AIDS, as she was also HIV positive. 

In 1969, something huge was about to happen. The pressure and repression over queer people was on and the gay liberation movement was stronger and stronger. And seeing this, the government was getting more bitter about it.

At that time, not being heterosexual was a crime on the United States. On the streets of New York, anyone who did not wear at least three pieces of clothing “appropriate for their gender” could be arrested. And socks didn't count. Due to the "indecent conduct", the State Liquor Authority (SLA) would also forbid the sell of alcohol in establishments considered gay.

In the early hours of June 28th, 1969, a group of New York police officers carried out a routine and violent raid on the Stonewall Inn Bar. The place, frequented by gays, lesbians, trans people, Drag Queens and other marginalized figures, was a frequent target of police harassment and abuse.

That early morning, Marsha P. Johnson was on the front line alongside other drag queens. She became a key figure in the early years of the LGBT struggle for rights in the United States.

In 1992, her body was found in the Hudson River, near the neighborhood where she lived and worked. Classified as a "suicide", the circumstances of her death have never been fully clarified or investigated.

Marsha will always be an example of fight and resistance for the LGBTQ+ community. Her HERstory and legacy must be honored and remembered!

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/marsha-p-johnson

https://revistagalileu.globo.com/amp/Sociedade/noticia/2019/06/revolta-de-stonewall-tudo-sobre-o-levante-que-deu-inicio-ao-movimento-lgbt.html

https://www.ebiografia.com/marsha_p_johnson/