User:Vplomeli/sandbox

Tragic events like these are what build up River's will to campaign for the LGBT community.

"We have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are. We have to show the world that we are numerous. There are many of us out there."

Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolution, STAR. Johnson was Rivera’s friend and ally who like many in their community discuss their political and material realities with each other. These discussions led to activism and in 1970, Rivera and Johnson launched STAR. STAR, offered both services and advocacy for homeless queer youth.

STAR fought for the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act in New York. This law, SONDA, prohibits discrimination on the bases of sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations, education, credit, and the exercise of civil rights.

Rivera, projected her voice to give her community power. She fought for herself but most importantly for the rights of people of color and low income queers and trans people. As an individual who suffered from the hand of systematic poverty and racism, Sylvia Rivera used her voice as an outlet to form unity. She shared her life stories, pain, and struggles to show her community they are not alone. She rose up from her challenges of survival, to amplify the voices of the most vulnerable members of the gay community: drag queens, homeless youth, gay inmates in prison and jail, and transgender people.