On this day, 24 May 2014, the campaigner known as the “Rosa Parks of the gay community”, Stormé DeLarverie, died aged 93 in Brooklyn. Born to an African-American mother and a white father, she is credited by some as sparking the Stonewall rebellion, as according to some eyewitnesses and her own account she was the “New York butch” who was arrested and attacked by police. Bleeding from a head wound, she began to fight back and called to the crowd “Why don’t you guys do something?” When she was thrown into a police van the crowd erupted and the Stonewall rebellion began.
Some dispute that this individual was DeLarverie, and point out that a Marilyn Fowler was the only woman recorded as being arrested by police on the first night of the riots.
The exact truth of that night will never be known, but Stonewall aside, DeLarverie played a leading role in the LGBT+ community in New York’s Village area. As well as working as an MC, bouncer and bodyguard, she carried a gun and patrolled the streets, protecting other lesbians from street harassment or assault, and also raised money for survivors of domestic violence.
In our podcast episodes 25-26, participants tell the story of the Stonewall rebellion: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/05/13/e21-22-the-stonewall-riots-and-pride-at-50/ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=631982785641607&set=a.602588028581083&type=3