Stormé DeLarverie (center) with Gene Avery, Dore Orr, and Tobi Marsh, The Jewel Box Revue, c.
Stormé DeLarverie (center) with Gene Avery, Dore Orr, and Tobi Marsh, The Jewel Box Revue, c. 1960. As the emcee (and only drag king) of the Jewel Box Revue–North America’s first racially integrated drag revue–during the 1950s and 1960s, Stormé DeLarverie (December 24, 1920 - May 14, 2014) made history before participating in the riots at the Stonewall Inn in late June 1969; the specifics of her participation at Stonewall, however, are the topic of some debate. It is well-established that the catalyst for the riots–the point at which the crowd in Christopher Park turned its rage on the police–was the attempt by police to arrest a single butch lesbian, and her prolonged fight to resist. The crowd watched as police struggled to subdue the woman, who twice escaped; as she was forced into a paddy wagon a third time, she yelled, “Why don’t you guys do something!” And, at that point, the crowd erupted, forcing the police to retreat back into the bar, and starting “the high point of the violence on the part of the crowd.” For many years, gay lore had it that the lesbian at the center of the mayhem was Stormé DeLarverie; DeLarverie was a well-known figure in the gay community by 1969, however, and there would be no question of the woman’s identity had it been DeLarverie. Nonetheless, DeLarverie, along with a core group of lesbians, drag queens, and transwomen (most of whom were of color), is credited with fighting back early and fighting back with particular intensity, thus taking the brunt of police brutality in the early hours of Stonewall. In the decades following Stonewall, DeLarverie played a large role in the LGBT liberation movement; as her New York Times obituary put it, “she literally walked the streets of downtown Manhattan like a gay superhero.” Stormé DeLarverie died in her sleep on May 14, 2014, two years ago today; she was ninety-three. #lgbthistory #lgbtherstory #lgbttheirstory #lgbtpride #queerhistorymatters #haveprideinhistory (at New York, New York) -- source link
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