“Y’all Better Quiet Down”: Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ Pioneers

How did Black and Latinx people in the LGBTQ+ community take initiative in the Stonewall Inn rebellions, Gay Liberation Movement, and in the preservation of LGBTQ+ history?

Know (knowledge):

• The life and work of Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ activists that were involved in the Stonewall rebellion, including Stormé DeLarverie, Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera and Miss Major Gracy-Griffin
• The importance of Disco and Sylvester to the LGBTQ+ community
• The concept of “whitewashing,” and how it excludes marginalized voices from history
• Initiatives and actions commemorating the legacies and work of early LGBTQ+ pioneers, especially Black and Latinx trans women

Mastery Objective:

• Students will be able to explore the legacies, work, and struggles of Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ pioneers of the Stonewall Rebellion and the Gay Liberation Movement.

On June 28th, 1969, the Stonewall Inn was raided by the New York City Police Department. Police raids were fairly common amongst venues such as the Stonewall Inn, which catered to LGBTQ+ patrons--however that summer night was different. This time, the patrons at the Stonewall Inn decided to fight back against the aggressive police officers, sparking several nights of protests. While often referred to as the Stonewall Riots, some witnesses and Stonewall veterans object to calling it a riot, like Stormé DeLarverie, who once stated, “It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience--it wasn't no damn riot.”

In the fifty years since, The Stonewall Rebellion has been considered the catalyst to the Gay Liberation Movement. The rebellion have been remembered through books, articles, interviews, television specials, and museum exhibitions. The Stonewall Inn itself was even made a National Landmark by former president Barack Obama in 2016. But in becoming an historical moment, critics have highlighted how Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ individuals--especially those who are lesbian or transgender--have all too often been erased from the story, and not included in larger discussions about the Gay Liberation movement prior to and after the Stonewall Rebellion.

Well before the Stonewall Rebellion, singer Stormé DeLarverie performed as an emcee and drag king with the traveling variety show, the Jewel Box Revue. DeLarverie, who identified as a lesbian, frequented gay spaces outside of her work with the Jewel Box Revue, one of those spaces being the Stonewall Inn. Not only was she present the night of the rebellion, but she was one of the first to fight back after being apprehended and struck by a police officer. Also present was Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, who ended up in a scuffle with a police officer who served a blow to her head. When news of the raid traveled through the grapevine, more people headed to the Stonewall Inn, including drag queen Marsha P. Johnson with her friend Sylvia Rivera, who arrived shortly after a fire started at the Stonewall Inn.

DeLarverie, Griffin-Gacy, Johnson, and Rivera would go on after the rebellion to become leaders in providing care and support for their fellow Black and Latinx queer and trans women, who were often excluded from predominately white gay spaces.

In the decades following the Stonewall Rebellion, Discos became one of the prominent spaces for activism and liberation for the Gay Liberation Movement. In these spaces, Sylvester’s 1978 hit “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” became a kind of anthem for the LGBTQ+ community due to its identity-affirming message. Coming from an African-American family, Sylvester was known for his work as a drag queen in Los Angeles and San Francisco before becoming a Disco star. Throughout his career, he maintained his gender-bending style and his decision to live openly as a proud gay man, which solidified “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” as an anthem of pride and defiance for the LGBTQ+ community.

In this lesson, students will investigate the work and legacies of Black and Latinx pioneers often ignored in larger discussions about LGBTQ+ history, by collaborating with other students in analyzing primary source documents. Students will also explore the ways city governments and activists are working to combat the erasure of Black and Latinx trans women and the broader whitewashing of the Gay Liberation Movement.

The primary sources used in this lesson contain strong, derogatory, and outdated language. Teacher discretion advised. Before teaching this class, teachers might consider familiarizing themselves with current LGBTQ+ terminology, which can be found at: GLSEN Gender Terminology, GLAAD "Ally's Guide to Terminology."