So while I think it’s great that people are boycotting the Stonewall movie, I think it would be even better if we channeled that energy into doing something proactive to honor the legacies of Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and the other TWOC who led the Stonewall Riots.
Here’s one idea:
Happy Birthday, Marsha!, a film about Marsha P. Johnson in the hours leading up to the Stonewall Riots, has finished filming and is currently in post-production. Unlike the whitewashed Stonewall movie, the legacies of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera as well as the involvement of TWOC have been central to the production of Happy Birthday, Marsha! Here’s the blurb from the film’s website on co-writer/producer/director Reina Gossett:
Reina Gossett (Writer, Director, Producer) is a black trans woman who has been archiving and spotlighting the lives of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P Johnson throughout her work including membership director of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and as an artist and writer. While writing the script Reina drew from her relationships and interviews with those who knew Sylvia and Marsha best. Reina’s writing has been featured in Barnard College’s The Scholar & Feminist Online, Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment & The Prison Industrial Complex, Post Post Script Press and Randy Magazine. Reina blogs at reinagossett.com.
The filmmakers are still trying to raise a significant chunk of their budget and are asking for donations. If you have some money to spare, you can donate here: http://www.happybirthdaymarsha.com/donate/ If you don’t have anything to donate, spread the word about the movie!
Don’t blink too fast or you might accidentally assume this is the same person five times. Let me find out Ryan Murphy had a dark-haired gym teacher with strong brows growing up or something…
Freedumbring 