New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced at the Human Rights Campaign Greater New York Gala that New York City will honor one of its most famous LGBTQ+ activists, Marsha P. Johnson, by naming its first state park after her. The East River State Park, located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, will soon bear Johnson’s name as a reminder of her pioneering civil rights work and a rebuke against the rise in hate crimes in the city.

Johnson, a Black trans woman, died in 1992. She became known for her activism following the Stonewall Uprising and her role in the Gay Liberation Front and Act Up. With transgender rights advocate Sylvia Rivera, she cofounded STAR, an organization that assisted and advocated for homeless LGBTQ+ youth.

In May 2019, NYC’s Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Johnson and Rivera would be featured as part of the She Built NYC monument series. In 2016, President Barack Obama designated the area around the Stonewall Inn as the country's first national monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights.

Johnson was born Malcolm Michaels, Jr. in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Growing up in a Christian environment was not easy and after high school she moved to New York’s Greenwich Village. She made ends meet by prostituting herself. However, she found joy as a drag queen amidst the nightlife of Christopher Street and designed all of her own costumes.  Johnson modeled for Andy Warhol.

She was tragically murdered on July 6, 1992 at the age of 46. Her body was found floating in the Hudson River.

Note:  Netflix:  The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.