The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson

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1

[indistinct chatter]

[woman 1] Do you know what this is?

[woman 2] It's for Marsha. Marsha Johnson.

-[woman 1] Who's that?

-[woman 2] Well, she was, um...

a transvestite from the Village

who recently died.

She was a big activist.

Um, we're not sure how she died yet.

Murder, maybe?

Marsha Johnson,

a veteran of the Stonewall riots,

and a prominent figure

among transvestites,

was found dead in the river

near Christopher Street, Monday morning.

Marsha, whose real name

was Malcolm Michaels Jr.,

was last seen alive on Thursday.

The police lists suicide

as the cause of death,

but community leaders cite

a lack of evidence,

and charge that police

have yet to begin an investigation

into the death of this beloved founder

of the gay movement.

A demonstration is planned

for next week on Christopher Street.

Marsha was 46 years old and is survived

by four brothers and two sisters.

She will be greatly missed.

[thunder rumbling]

[siren wailing]

[Sue Yacka] Do we have everyone?

Let's start with the most recent incident,

which happened over the weekend.

A 35-year-old transgender woman

was attacked

outside of her home

in Jackson Heights, Queens.

Um, last we heard was that the survivor

is not yet conscious

or able to communicate,

and they've not been in a position

where we could offer support.

She had her head smashed

against the curb of a sidewalk

by, uh, someone who has fled

and has not yet been apprehended.

[man] Keep us posted.

[Catherine Santos] And let us know

what you need.

[Sue] Remember, the Nettles case is back

in court this Friday.

[man] Yeah, we'll be there.

[Victoria] I've been working for the LGBTQ

Anti-Violence project for many years,

and I'm about to retire.

But there's a massive number

of trans women who have been murdered,

and their cases have just gone cold.

And they're yelling out

from their graves...

for justice.

Most of them were unknown,

but even famous people, cases go cold,

just like Marsha.

Marsha was famous all around the world.

Her case has been cold for 25 years.

If we can't bring justice for Marsha,

how can we bring justice

for all these other unsolved cases?

I wanna try to give Marsha justice

before I leave.

[camerawoman] This is the memorial

that the street people laid down,

where they laid Marsha's body

when they pulled Marsha out of the water.

Right over the edge here.

[man] You're looking for '92, right?

[Victoria] It was July of '92.

[man] Everyone knew Marsha.

Marsha was so full of life.

It's hard for me to believe

that she would commit suicide.

[Victoria] Yeah, this is her case.

-I was there when they pulled her out.

-[camerawoman] Yeah?

Where did you see her floating?

[man] Right over there.

She was about this...

Right there, let's say.

And the head was up

and the feet were down.

She wasn't floating flat,

she was floating down.

And she had a hole in her head.

[camerawoman] How do you know

she had a hole in her head?

-I could see it.

-Really?

-[cameraman] You can't judge that...

-It could be the fish--

I'm just saying it was a hole.

I'm not saying what happened.

All I'm telling you is what I saw.

She didn't look anything like we knew her.

[indistinct chatter]

[Taylor Mead] Isn't this calming

and nice to come here?

They set aside this whole pier for us

so we could come and relax here.

[man on street] Marsha!

[Taylor] Marsha Johnson,

Queen of the Village. One of the great...

This is one of the most courageous people

in the world.

I've always loved...

I always wanted to put on drag

and I never had the courage.

This is one of the people

that has the courage.

And bravo for him. Her.

Or whatever he wants to be.

And not only that, he doesn't give a sh*t

whether he wears men's clothes

or women's clothes.

-Right? He's totally free.

-Right. That's right.

If he feels like going out as a man,

he goes out as a man.

-He feels like a woman, he's a woman.

-How do you know all this?

If he feels like wearing roller skates,

he wears roller skates. Whatever.

I know Marsha Johnson.

-Marsha Johnson is our queen forever.

-[both laughing]

[dialing]

[operator] You have reached

the Office of Chief Medical Examiner

for the City of New York.

My name is Victoria Cruz

and I'm inquiring about a Malcolm Michaels

who was found dead in 1992.

There was an autopsy.

How would I be able to get

this particular information?

[woman] Are you calling

from the media or--

I'm calling from the Anti-Violence Project

here in New York City.

I can give you the cause of death

and the manner of death.

You would not be entitled

to a full autopsy report.

If you're looking for all that paperwork,

then the family needs to request it

in a written letter,

and you can get the record that way.

[Victoria] 907.

"The Michaels family."

[knocks on door]

[Jean Michaels] How are you?

-[Victoria] Pleased to meet you.

-Pleased to meet you, too.

Here, I'll take this one

'cause it's much easier to get up from.

-Okay.

-[Jean] Okay, go ahead.

Okay.

What do you know about the case?

I really don't know anything.

All we know is that

they found him in the river.

We really don't know anything about that.

[Victoria] That's what

we're investigating,

'cause we have eyewitnesses

that report seeing him... her...

What do you prefer me...

for me to call Marsha?

-It doesn't matter. Okay.

-Okay.

When was the last time you saw her alive?

We saw her before the Fourth of July.

-Monday? Tuesday?

-I don't know what day that was.

It was during the week.

She stopped by our house

and I took him to the train station.

-He got on the train and that was it.

-[Victoria] Okay.

Next thing we know, we got a phone call

saying that he was dead.

Yeah, we sure did.

We went to New York and everything.

[Victoria] And did you request

to see the body or no?

My sister asked, they told her no.

They couldn't.

They're not allowed to do that.

Okay.

This is the letter that we requested

in order to get the autopsy report,

toxicology report

and the pictures, if some were taken.

And hopefully, we can bring

some closure to her case.

Because to me, she was the Rosa Parks

of the LGBT movement.

-You miss her?

-Yes, I miss him.

[Robert] He adopted the name

of Marsha "Pay It No Mind."

[Victoria] Pay it no mind.

That's your problem, not mine.

[all laughing]

[Robert] Anything he did,

he'd have you laughing.

When he told us stories,

we didn't believe him.

I'd tell him, "You're lying.

You didn't know Andy Warhol.

-You didn't know those people."

-[Victoria] Yes, she did!

She knew a lot of famous people.

She was famous herself.

Well, she told us. We...

I didn't believe her.

I thought he was joking.

Only thing that Marsha couldn't do

was sing.

-Horrible. Horrible.

-[Jean] No, no. No.

[all laughing]

He could not sing.

[Jimmy Camicia] And now,

ladies and gentlemen...

Miss Marsha P. Johnson!

[audience cheering and applauding]

It sent Zelda to the nuthouse

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