workingclasshistory:

On this day, 19 February 2002, legendary transgender activist, of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan descent, Sylvia Rivera died aged 50 in New York City.
Born in the Bronx, by the age of 11, Rivera ran away from home due to the ridicule faced growing up as a trans youth. She then worked as a child sex worker in the Times Square area, and began to identify as Sylvia.
Here she met and befriended Marsha P Johnson. Rivera soon began a large span of work in liberatory action, which included involvement in the Gay Liberation Front, Gay Activist Alliance and Young Lords Organisation. Rivera was involved in protests against homophobia within the Black Panther Party, after which Huey Newton writing a letter opposing homophobia and supporting gay liberation.
Rivera faced transphobia and discrimination as Pride events gained larger mainstream momentum. This boiled down in an impassioned speech by Rivera known as the “Y’all Better Quiet Down” speech.
In 1971 with Johnson, Rivera co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), and acted as a mother to many trans houseless youth. After the closure of the STAR house, Rivera moved to the north of New York City and returned to West Village in 1992 after hearing about the death of Johnson.
In 1995 Rivera attempted suicide by walking into the river Johnson was found in. She then moved into the Transy House in 1997, which was a new home for trans and gender-nonconforming people needing shelter. Here she continued in her activist work up until her passing in 2002 due to liver cancer complications.
Following her death, the impact of Rivera’s activism has been much more widely acknowledged, including by the queer community but also that of homeless, trans, and gender-nonconforming sex workers.
Sylvia Rivera is survived by her partner Julia Murry, the many spaces and groups named after her, and the community she is a crucial part of.
More: https://stories.workingclasshistory.com/tag/8460/sylvia-rivera https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2213921148793023/?type=3