Forgotten Heroes (The Leading Ladies of Stonewall)

Stormé DeLarverie, the guardian of lesbians:

"It was a rebellion,

it was an uprising,

it was a civil rights disobedience —

it wasn’t no damn riot."

Marsha P. Johnson, the revolutionary heart for the homeless:

"I was no one,

nobody,

from Nowheresville

until I became a drag queen.

That's what made me in New York,

that's what made me in New Jersey,

that's what made me in the world."

Sylvia Rivera, the queen of charity and activism:

"Today, we have to fight back against the government. 

We have to fight them back. 

They’re cutting back Medicaid, 

cutting back on medicine for people with AIDS. 

They want to take away from women on welfare 

and put them into that little work program. 

They’re going to cut SSI. 

Now they’re taking away food stamps. 

These people who want the cuts – 

these people are making millions and millions and millions of dollars as CEOs. 

Why is the government going to take it away from us? 

What they’re doing is cutting us back. 

Why can’t we have a break?"

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, the rouser for justice:

"Puppy's murder made me aware 

that we were not safe or untouchable 

and that if someone does touch us, 

no one gives a shit. 

We only have each other...

So I started looking out for myself … 

whenever we got into a car [we] would write down as much information as possible. 

We would try (to)...get a guy to walk outside the car so that everyone could see him, 

so we all knew who he was if she didn’t come back. 

That’s how it started. 

Since no one was going to do it for us, 

we had to do it for ourselves."

Brenda Howard, the mother of pride:

"Bi, Poly, Switch—I’m not greedy, I know what I want."

And the Children of the Revolution:

"We are the Stonewall girls

We wear our hair in curls

We don't wear underwear

We show our pubic hair."

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