Sylvia Rivera

Another brave transgender rights activist on the list is Sylvia Rivera. She was a Latina American actively involved in the Gay Liberation Front. She would often wear heavy make-up, identifying herself as a drag queen. Despite this, she would participate in community activities around New York City. Together with her close friend Marsha P. Johnson, they co-founded their biggest investment — the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR). It was very inspiring and heart-warming to see how Rivera and Johnson put up a group to help out homeless drag queens, gay youth, and transwomen.

She wrote an essay titled Transvestites: Your Half Sisters and Half Brothers of the Revolution, where she discussed the term transvestite and where it should be used. She was an active member of the Metropolitan Community Church of New York, where she would often be seen helping out, distributing food to hungry people.