She died at 51, having struggled with addiction and homelessness for much of her life, even as she continued to fight for trans rights and LGBTQ equality. Sylvia was all of 17 at the time that she recalled crossing paths with history at the Stonewall Inn on the night of June 28, 1969. At 11 years old, the self-described effeminate child found herself homeless and hustling on 42 nd Street to scratch out enough money to get by. But she’d also want you to know that she was a human being. Episode Notesįrom Eric Marcus: Sylvia Rivera would have loved knowing that in the years since her death in 2002 she’d become an icon-a symbol of LGBTQ people fighting back against police repression and fighting for respect and equal rights. Credit: Leonard Fink, courtesy of LGBT Community Center National History Archive. Sylvia Rivera at the Christopher Street Liberation Day Gay Pride Parade, New York City, June 24, 1973.
