Sylvia Rivera

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“We have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are. We have to show the world that we’re numerous that there are.”


Sylvia Rivera (1951 – 2002) was a Latina American gay liberation and transgender rights activist, often hailed as the “Rosa Parks of the modern transgender rights movement”. Alongside Marsha P. Johnson, she was considered as of the main leaders of the Stonewall riots – despite controversary as to whether or not she was even present at the time. Rivera also worked alongside her friend and co-founder of STAR trying to secure safe shelter for transgender youths. Having survived a difficult childhood filled with neglect, abuse, and homelessness, Rivera was often forced to engage in sex work for her own survival, but also engaged in it for the benefit of the community which shows of her selfless nature. Some of the most touching parts of the Marsh Johnson documentary on Netflix are those featuring Sylvia and documenting her struggles both alongside Marsha and after her passing. Rivera died of liver cancer in 2002, but left a powerful legacy in religious, legal, and social ways.


Crucially, Rivera also raised awareness of struggles beyond those of gay and trans people, as they intersected with issues of poverty and discrimination faced by people of color, denouncing the white-middle class focus of many Gay Liberation movements. Rivera battled substance abuse and lived on the streets for much of her life. These experiences made her more focused on advocacy for those who, in her view, mainstream society and the assimilationist sectors of the LGBT+ communities were forgetting or excluding.  Thus, she sought to give a voice to people of color and low-income LGBT people: ‘As someone who suffered from systematic poverty and racism, Rivera used her voice for unity, sharing her stories, pain, and struggles to show her community they are not alone. She amplified the voices of the most vulnerable members of the gay community: drag queens, homeless youth, gay inmates in prison and jail, and transgender people.’ Again, this screams of the importance of intersectionality and remembering that just because you’re from one minority (LGBT, women, BME etc) doesn’t mean that you don’t still share the privilege of other majorities (white, cis, male) etc.




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