Deaths in the family: as gay rights pioneers pass on, is enough being done to preserve our history? (History).The recent deaths of two figures in the gay civil rights movement are a striking reminder of how much time has passed since the hot night in June 1969 when police raided the Stonewall Inn and the patrons decided to fight back. Both Sylvia Rivera, legendary transsexual trans·sex·u·al n. A person who strongly identifies with the opposite gender and who chooses to live as a member of the opposite gender or to become one by surgery. adj. 1. Of or relating to such a person. 2. activist who participated in the ensuing riots, and John Paul Hudson, organizer of New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of City's first gay pride march, died within the same week, leaving some community members to wonder if enough is being done to record and commemorate the lives and contributions of pioneering activists. "Sylvia's death reminds us that the people involved in the early days are nearing the end of their lives," said Eric Marcus, author of the forthcoming Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights. "So if there arestories to be told, they should be told now." "I'm not missing a minute of this--it's the revolution!" Rivera shouted as she joined the riots, heeding the call to action at age 17. Before her struggles with substance abuse and homelessness later in life, Rivera established herself as a force to be reckoned with. When the Gay Activists Alliance of New York made it clear that transvestites were not included in the gay civil rights agenda, Rivera shot back with her now-famous line, "Hell hath no fury like a drag queen drag queen Female impersonator, gynemimetic Sexology A ♂ with ♀ affect–often 'overplayed'; a ♂ homosexual and ♀ wannabe, with ♂ genitalia; DQs may take hormones to ↑ breasts, and thus are hormonally, but not surgically scorned." She died of liver cancer Liver Cancer Definition Liver cancer is a relatively rare form of cancer but has a high mortality rate. Liver cancers can be classified into two types. February 19 in New York at the age of 50. A member of GAA GAA Goals Against Average (Hockey) GAA Gaelic Athletic Association GAA Gravure Association of America (Rochester, NY) GAA German Agro Action GAA Global Aquaculture Alliance GAA Gay Activists Alliance who was formerly with the Mattachine Society, Hudson wrote the 1971 book The Gay Insider, a guide to New York's gay scene. The following year he published one of the first nationwide gay travel guides, The Gay Insider USA. Hudson died in Honesdale, Pa., at 73, just a few days after Rivera's death. "The organized LGBT LGBT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community understands the significance of these passings and wants to find a way to thank them for what they did, which has allowed us to do what we do," said Robb Leigh Davis, communications officer for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . "We're in discussions right now of what could be the best way to do that. We're definitely going to remember them and their contributions." |
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