Bitch on Wheels
Sylvia Rivera
:)
Sylvia Rivera :)
⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: The following post and linked material contains descriptions of transphobia, violence, and mentions of rape.
“Bitch on Wheels” is a 2001 speech by Sylvia Rivera, a radical trans activist, organizer, and one of the main figures of the Stonewall riots of 1969 . This speech was delivered in June of 2001 at a First Friday of the Month event of the LGMNY (Latino Gay Men of New York), a social group who invited Sylvia to speak in commemoration of Pride month and the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. In this speech, Rivera remembers the reality of her life & the events that led up to Stonewall. She also goes on to scathingly disparage the modern gay rights movement for ignoring transgender rights and even willfully working against them. She also questions the cis-gay focus on heteronormative rights like marriage and class status, while criticizing the erasure of trans rights from proposed legislative bills.
A bit of background: Rivera was born (1951) and raised in New York city. After leaving home at age 10 due to homophobic and racist family dynamics, Rivera found a community on 42nd Street (now better known as Broadway and Times Square), where she was “adopted” by a group of drag queens. Rivera soon met Marsha P. Johnson, a Black, trans woman who was “like a mother” to her and together, shortly after having both taken part in the Stonewall Riots, formed the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, or S.T.A.R, a radical collective who worked to house trans youth and further the trans and gay liberation movements.
But wait, there’s more! If you’re interested in learning more about our featured revolutionary, here are some really cool (and kinda rare) bonus materials for you to peruse!
Bonus material
Firstly, an audio recording of 19 year old Sylvia Rivera being interviewed, along with Marsha P. Johnshon, and other members of S.T.A.R.. They discuss their upbringing, the emergence of their identities, the political oppression they faced, and their realities as trans and gay people in New York.
Stonewall and the modern day queer liberation movement often gets washed of its revolutionary politics. To tackle that, we’ve also got a (graiiiiny) PDF of the original S.T.A.R manifesto where members outlined a preamble about the collective’s meaning and nine demands they organize around.
A rare 1973 video of Sylvia delivering a speech at an NYC Pride event at Washington Square Park after having her speaker invitation rescinded after pressure from cis gay and lesbian speakers who wrote off trans people and drag queens as anti-feminist. Trans exclusionary radical feminist Jean O'Leary was in the middle of a speech where she criticized drag queens and Sylvia fought her way onto the stage and gave a chilling testimony on the realities of being trans, and the constant harassment she and her brothers and sisters receive from the police, straight men, and gay & lesbian folks.
Sources:
Sources coming soon y’all. I’m tired lol