Brooklyn Park to be renamed to honour Marsha P Johnson

A park in Brooklyn will be renamed to honour the achievements of gay rights activist Marsha P Johnson.

New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo made the announcement at the annual Human Rights Campaign in gala on Saturday night.

East River State Park in Brooklyn will be renamed in honour of Johnson who was a gay rights activist who was at the Stonewall Riots in 1969.

Governor Cuomo said the state of New York was committed to equality and recognising the trailblazers of the LGBTIQ+ communities.

“New York State is the progressive capital of the nation, and while we are winning the legal battle for justice for the LGBTQ community, in many ways we are losing the broader war for equality.” Cuomo said.

Johnson was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front and also founded S.T.A.R.  – the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, alongside close friend Sylvia Rivera.

Johnson was transgender and performed as a drag queen, and was dubbed the Mayor of Christopher Street – the location of the legendary Stonewall Inn.

In the late 1980’s, up until her death in 1992, Johnson was a member of AIDS Activism group Act-Up!

Johnson’s body was found in the Hudson River in 1992, shortly after New York’s annual Pride Parade. Initially her death was considered to be a suicide, but after years of campaigning the case was reopened and police reclassified her death as undetermined.

OIP Staff