Mental Floss

New York Just Renamed Brooklyn’s East River State Park After LGBTQ+ Icon Marsha P. Johnson

A photo of Marsha P. Johnson from the 2017 documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.
A photo of Marsha P. Johnson from the 2017 documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson. | Netflix

Brooklyn, New York’s East River State Park is now called the Marsha P. Johnson State Park, after the transgender activist who dedicated her life to advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS.

NBC New York reports that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo mentioned plans to change the name at a Human Rights Campaign gala back in February, and made the change official yesterday, on what would’ve been Johnson’s 75th birthday. Johnson passed away in 1992 at age 46, and the circumstances surrounding her death are still being investigated.

In addition to having been present at the Stonewall Uprising in 1969, Johnson also founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) to aid unhoused LGBTQ+ youth, and she took an active role in the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power in the 1980s. Her legacy as a trailblazer for trans and gay rights is so important that people sometimes credit her with throwing the first brick at Stonewall, though there’s no proof she (or anyone) actually did.

“Too often, the marginalized voices that have pushed progress forward in New York and across the country go unrecognized, making up just a fraction of our public memorials and monuments,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement. “Marsha P. Johnson was one of the early leaders of the LGBTQ movement, and is only now getting the acknowledgement 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.”

A mock-up of what the park could look like after it's finished.
A mock-up of what the park could look like after it's finished. | NY State Parks, Flickr

Not only is this New York’s first state park to be named after a transgender woman of color, but it’s also the first in the state to be named after any member of the LGBTQ+ community. So far, some of the fencing around the park has been decorated with vibrant florals—something Johnson was known for wearing—and signs that explain her contributions to the movement. State park officials will also collaborate with New York’s LGBTQ+ community on a larger art installation in the park, which should be finished by next summer. They’re also planning on building a 1200-square-foot building on the grounds with restrooms, classroom space, storage, and a park ranger station.

Home/NEIGHBORHOODS