Marsha P Johnson

Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey on 24 August 1945, Marsha P Johnson's mother was said to have harboured homophobic/ anti-gay values and had Marsha raised episcopal. Despite her mother's views, Marsha started wearing dresses at the age of 5 and came out in 1966. The P in her name stood for Pay It No Mind. On the night of the Stonewall riots on 28 June 1969, Marsha arrived at 2AM as the riots was picking up steam while the Stonewall Inn was already burning. On the 2nd night of the riots, Marsha climbed a lamppost and dropped a handbag containing a brick onto a squad car which shattered the windshield. After the riots, Marsha joined the Gay Liberation Front and campaigned for gay rights from allowing openly gay people to work without losing their job to allowing them to get married and have a family through adoption or surrogacy. She also attended Pride parades even if drag queens like herself were forbidden.

Marsha's lifeless remains were found in the Hudson River following the 1992 Pride parade and there are theories as to whether her own personal demons got to her or something else had happened to her. Yet, there are no theories as to what her legacy is today. She and fellow drag queen Sylvia Rivera were honoured with a monument near Stonewall and search engine Google bestowed her with a Google Doodle tribute of her likeness. Pay it no mind appeared on influencer NikkiTutorials' Met Gala dress at the 2021 Met Gala.