Sylvia Rivera, born on July 2 in 1951, was a Latina American queer rights activist, member of the Gay Liberation Front, and community worker from the state of New York.
Rivera, who identified as a “half-sister”, participated in demonstrations with the Gay Liberation Front. With her close friend Marsha P. Johnson, Rivera co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a socialist group dedicated to helping homeless young drag queens, gay youth, and trans women.
At different times in her life, Rivera battled substance abuse and lived on the streets, largely in the gay homeless community at the Christopher Street docks. Her experiences made her more focused on advocacy for those who, in her view, mainstream society and the assimilationist factions of the LGBT community were leaving behind.
Rivera died during the dawn hours of February 19th, 2002, at St. Vincent’s Hospital, of complications from liver cancer. Activist Riki Wilchins said this of her: “In many ways, Sylvia was the Rosa Parks of the modern transgender movement, a term that was not even coined until two decades after Stonewall”.
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Remember the radicalism of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson
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“Our armies are rising:” Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson
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I have gotten a good night’s sleep in three weeks. Between starting a new schedule, my dog hurting herself and needing care, taking family members places, its just been late night and early morning after another without pause. I’ve had to stop on the side of the road to nap because I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I’ve passed out during tabletop role-playing sessions, I keep passing out as soon as I get home from school or work, only to wake up still tired, do my homework, and then try and fail to go to bed at a normal time.
Right now I’m fucking dead tired, it’s 330 am, and I haven’t been able to sleep at all despite trying since about midnight. My dog’s been keeping me awake because she had surgery today and she’s crying and there’s no way I can sleep while listening to that. Maybe if I’m lucky she’ll fall asleep and then I’ll be able to get a single REM cycle before I have to get up.
hopefully ranting on the Internet helps a bit. good night y’all.