Marsha P. Johnson (1945-1992)

Marsha P. Johnson (1945 to 1992) was a Black activist and self-described drag queen who became one of the most beloved figures of Greenwich Village street life and a central presence in the era of the Stonewall Uprising. Born Malcolm Michaels Jr. in Elizabeth, New Jersey, she moved to New York after high school. When asked about her gender she often answered that the 'P' stood for 'Pay It No Mind.' In 1970 she and Sylvia Rivera founded STAR, the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, one of the first groups devoted to housing and supporting homeless transgender and queer youth. She later cared for friends during the AIDS crisis. Widely honored today as a trans and LGBTQ+ icon, she died in 1992 under circumstances that remain unresolved.