The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson Page #4

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It made me feel like

I wanted to be a part of that crowd.

And Marsha and I remained great friends

up until the day she died.

Have you seen this?

This was a flyer that was given out.

[Kitty] I remember this poster

being posted in the window of Uplift,

which was Randy Wicker's store.

And Randy had, like,

this little memorial going on right there.

Yes, I do remember this.

I had went in there once or twice

after Marsha's death.

Just to pay my respects to him

and offer my condolences to him.

I actually never read this.

"Malcolm, 46..."

Oh, Anvil icon.

Amazing, because the night

that she was murdered,

her and I were supposed to

go to the Anvil together.

[Victoria] Okay, tell me about that time.

I wanna say it was the Fourth of July.

I ran into Marsha in front of

the Christopher Street bookstore,

and it was broad daylight.

She was in full drag.

-How intoxicated was she?

-Marsha was always in her right mind.

She always knew

what the main prize was, you know.

We separated,

and we were gonna meet at midnight,

and we were gonna

troll the streets back and forth.

And we were gonna go to the Anvil,

like, at the usual time,

it was 2:
00 or 3:00 a.m.

But she never showed up.

And then, later, I remember...

I was down by the Stroll.

The girl stroll, the queen stroll,

was on that left side.

On the right side was

where all the boys used to do their thing.

The butch queens.

I remember the girls had put me on point.

"Miss Kitty, watch out.

There's a car full of guidos,

you know, just driving around."

And later that evening, I heard

that Marsha had gotten in the car.

The thing is...

Yeah, we told her not to get in that car.

And I never saw her again

after that, you know.

The police from the Sixth Precinct,

they just brushed it off like...

like another one bites the dust

type of thing, you know.

You know,

it kind of makes me think, Victoria,

what happens when a flower gets wilted?

Does it just die away and it's forgotten?

[Victoria] Well, hopefully, that flower

would have shed some seeds

-that will grow into a movement.

-Right.

[Victoria] That's what I hope.

[reporter 1] Police are investigating

a possible hate crime

that led to the death

of a transgender woman.

[reporter 2] Twenty-one-year-old

Islan Nettles was attacked on the street.

[reporter 3] Nettles was out with another

transgender female, a friend.

[reporter 4] Police say the pair

met a group of men who attacked them

once they realized Nettles and her friend

weren't born as females.

[reporter 3]

The friend tells investigators,

when she ran away to get help,

the suspect was on top of Nettles,

punching her in the face.

[reporter 5] Nettles was punched

in the head, hit the ground.

She lapsed into a coma and later died.

[reporter 6] Twenty-year-old James Dixon

faced a judge

here at Manhattan Criminal Court.

He's charged with manslaughter

and assault.

This person beat my baby

with their bare hands to death.

And I don't feel

he should walk in the streets

'cause my baby can't walk.

[Ted McGuire] He faces anything

between 5 and 25 years.

The child was murdered in August of 2013.

And this has been going on,

we're going on three years already.

The family's been in limbo.

This is a very important case.

This place should be packed.

There should be people outside

that couldn't get in the door.

We had the gay marriage.

Everyone was out for gay marriage.

We used to march these streets

up and down.

We got arrested over here.

We handcuffed ourselves to that thing.

The privileged people,

they got their gay marriage,

and now they're off...

[mumbles] They're gone.

And they've left

the transgender community behind.

What about the rest of the community?

What about the T?

Remember the T? LGBT, you know?

As long as my people don't have

their rights all across America,

there's no reason for celebration.

That's how come I've been walking

for gay rights all these years.

And in 1973,

they told me and Sylvia Rivera

that we get to lead the Gay Pride march,

the transvestites

in the front of the parade.

Honey, they chickens put

all of the drag queens

way in the back someplace.

Honey, that was not the right thing to do.

They don't care if you were there

at the beginning of the gay movement,

demonstrating in drag with them.

They don't care.

[crowd cheering]

[Karla] Transgender people felt

that they were being pushed to the side.

That their place at Stonewall,

that their place from the beginning

was being forgotten.

[Sylvia] I had been promised

a spot to speak.

And they were having a conflict

about the drag queens on stage.

Because we were supposed

to be stereotypes.

But if it wasn't for a drag queen,

there would be no gay liberation movement.

We're the frontliners.

I said, "Well, I'm gonna speak

one way or the other."

[crowd shouting]

[announcer] One person, a man,

Sylvia gets up here, and--

Just a moment, just a moment.

I would like to avoid any trouble.

This is a day of unity for us.

I want us to be happy.

[crowd applauding]

Sylvia!

[indistinct shouting]

[crowd cheering]

Hi, baby!

[crowd shouting]

[crowd booing]

You all better quiet down!

[crowd continues shouting and booing]

I've been trying to get up here all day

for your gay brothers

and your gay sisters in jail!

They're writing me

every motherfuckin' week,

and ask for your help!

And you all don't do

a goddamn thing for them!

And they write STAR,

not the women's group.

They do not write women.

They do not write men.

They write STAR because

we're trying to do something for them.

But you all tell me

go and hide my tail between my legs.

I will not put up with this sh*t!

I have been beaten.

I have had my nose broken.

I have been thrown in jail.

I have lost my job.

I have lost my apartment

for gay liberation.

And you all treat me this way?

What the f***'s wrong with you all?

Think about that!

[scattered cheering]

I believe in the gay power.

I believe in us getting our rights,

or else I would not be out there

fighting for our rights.

That's all I wanted to say to your people.

Come and see your people

at STAR House on 12th Street.

The people that are trying

to do something for all of us,

and not men and women

that belong to a white middle class club!

And that's what you all belong to!

Revolution now!

[scattered cheering]

Gay... Gay power.

[shouting and booing]

-Louder! Gay power!

-[whistling]

[crowd continues shouting]

I was hurt, and I felt that...

the movement had completely betrayed...

the drag queens and the street people.

And I felt that the years that

I had already given them had been a waste.

So, I went home, locked up the house.

If it wasn't for Marsha,

I wouldn't be here right now.

I got 60 stitches in this arm.

She came home

and found me bleeding to death.

After the march of 1973...

I left the movement.

I found myself up in Westchester.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the Music Hall in Tarrytown.

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