Stormé DeLarverie

‘It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience – it wasn't no damn riot.’

 

Stormé DeLarverie (1920 – 2014) was a mixed-race, lesbian, performer and civil rights activist whose scuffle with police is largely regarded as the spark that ignited the Stonewall riots. She worked as various things including a DJ, singer, bouncer, and bodyguard. She also volunteered as a street patrol worker and was nicknamed “guardian of lesbians in the Village." Like other icons of the Stonewall movement, she is often regarded as "the Rosa Parks of the gay community."

DeLarverie was born in New Orleans to a white man and a black woman – his family servant. She had a difficult childhood thanks to bullying and a fall from a horse which left her seriously injured. She came out as gay at the age of eighteen. She had one serious partner, Diana, with whom she lived for 25 years until Diana’s death in the 70s.

From 1955 to 1969 DeLarverie toured the black theatre circuit as the MC (and only drag king) of the Jewel Box Revue, North America's first racially integrated drag revue. She also performed for mixed-race audiences, which was still unusual thanks to strict racial segregation laws. 

During these shows, audiences were asked to guess who the “Girl” was amongst the performers, with Storme revealed as a woman during the final number. She was a close friend of other notable black performers including Billie Holiday who inspired her as a singer. 

DeLarverie became an icon because her unique drag style set ‘historic president’ as the only successful drag king whose style and ‘subversive performances’ was widely celebrated. Her costumes and makeup allowed her to convincingly pass as either male or female, black or white – challenging the gender and racial binaries which the legal system sought to impose at that time.  Offstage, she was known for her ‘striking, handsome, androgynous presence’, and inspired other lesbians to adopt what were traditionally seen as "men's" clothing as fashion. Thus, she is now regarded as one of the main influences on gender-nonconforming fashion, long-before “Unisex” clothing became a thing.

During the Stonewall ‘rebellion’ in 1969, a scuffle broke out when a woman – now believed to be Stormé – resisted arrest as she was forcefully escorted from the club. She escaped repeatedly, and violently fought at least four officers for ten minutes. Her shouting and scuffling drew attention, hence the number of eyewitnesses who attest to her crucial role in the upheaval.  They reported that an officer had struck her with a baton for claiming her handcuffs were too tight. Her head could be seen bleeding as she fought with the police.  Witnesses including DeLarverie herself claim that she roused the crowd into action by shouting: "Why don't you guys do something?" After she was picked up and thrown in the police van, the crowd turned into a mob and went "berserk" – ‘exploding’ into action. At today’s pride events commemorating the riots, banners can be seen stating:  "Everybody knows black lesbian female homosexual Stormé started Stonewall."

DeLarverie's role in the Gay liberation movement lasted long after the Stonewall uprising. She armed herself and roamed gay areas checking on lesbian bars on the lookout for ‘"ugliness": any form of intolerance, bullying or abuse of her "baby girls.". Her obituary described how: "She literally walked the streets of downtown Manhattan like a gay superhero. ... She was not to be messed with.’ DeLarverie continued working as a bouncer until she was 85.

Beyond the LGBT+ community, she also worked for the protection of women and child who had been victims of domestic violence. She explained this work as such: "Somebody has to care. People say, 'Why do you still do that?' I said, 'It's very simple. If people didn't care about me when I was growing up, with my mother being black, raised in the south.' I said, 'I wouldn't be here.' 

DeLarverie suffered from dementia in her later years, but her memories of her childhood and the Stonewall Uprisings remained clear in her mind. She died in her sleep on May 24, 2014. In 2019, she was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City's Stonewall Inn.

Stormé DeLarverie was a truly formidable woman. Her bravery in standing up to police brutality during Stonewall and in protecting the women of her community is a testament that women can be just as strong and forocious as men – mentally and physically when required. Throughout her life, DeLarverie challenged gender and racial binaries and paved the way for women – gay, black, or otherwise – who followed her to live unapologetically and authentically, unafraid to stand up for their right to live as they chose and be who they were regardless of legal or social persecution.