NY state park named after Marsha P. Johnson, its first for LGBTQ person

On what would've been her 75th birthday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave the late Black transgender civil rights activist "the acknowledgment she deserves."

Shayler Richmond

Aug 26, 2020

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Monday that Brooklyn’s East River State Park had been renamed Marsha P. Johnson State Park to honor the life and legacy of the late Black transgender civil rights activist.

On that date, Aug. 24, 2020, Johnson would’ve turned 75.

Johnson led 1969’s historic Stonewall riots in New York’s Greenwich Village, where the movement for modern-day gay rights was sparked by the early-morning police raid of a gay bar. Through her life’s work, she challenged gender norms and fought for LGBTQ rights, working so every identity could be equally served and protected.

The seven-acre waterfront Marsha P. Johnson State Park is the first of New York’s 215 parks to honor an LGBTQ person and a transgender woman of color.

“Marsha P. Johnson was one of the early leaders of the LGBTQ movement and is only now getting the acknowledgment she deserves. Dedicating this state park for her, and installing public art telling her story, will ensure her memory and her work fighting for equality lives on,” said Gov. Cuomo in a statement.

Johnson’s dead body was found floating in NYC’s Hudson River in 1992. Despite speculation she may have been murdered, her death initially was ruled a suicide, then, in 2002, Johnson’s case was refiled as “undetermined.” A decade later, prosecutors reopened the investigation, a probe that was the subject of David France‘s 2017 Netflix documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.

While overcoming her hardships surviving the streets of Manhattan, Johnson turned her adversity into activism. She became known as a key figure at Stonewall rebellion, as well as for her participation in ACT UP demonstrations and advocacy raising awareness about HIV/AIDS.

Most of Johnson’s activism was community-based. She often participated in demonstrations alongside her good friend Sylvia Rivera. Together, they co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, a 1970s shelter and support system for LGBTQ people. The efforts led by Johnson, Rivera and others helped galvanize the gay civil rights movement and represented an entire community of marginalized people.

Marsha P. Johnson State Park facilities are set to be vastly upgraded, and public art will be installed to celebrate Johnson’s life and work to advance LGBTQ rights. According to reports, these improvements are the largest investment in the park since it was opened in 2007.

Located along the East River in Brooklyn, it currently features a view of the Manhattan skyline, provides access to historical landmarks — and is free and open to the public.

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