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Stormé DeLarverie, LGBTQ+ Icon

12/24/2019

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by Jackie Marino-Thomas  

​Many only know Stormé DeLarverie as the person who may have been the “cross-dressing lesbian” who threw the first punch in the 1969 Stonewall Riots. But she was an icon in the LGBTQ+ community far before that night.
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   Stormé DeLarverie was the child of a white father and black mother in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was never issued a birth certificate due to interracial marriage being illegal at the time. However, they decided to celebrate her birth on December 24th, 1920. While growing up, DeLarverie was constantly bullied and attacked for being biracial. One such incident left her in a leg brace, while another gave her a scar from being hung on a fence. It grew to a point where her father had to send her to private school for her own safety. At the age of 18, DeLarverie discovered that she was a lesbian - so she moved to Chicago, fearing she’d definitely be murdered if she remained in the south.

  In 1946, though, she made a trip to Miami, Florida to visit Danny Brown and Doc Brenner of the venue Danny’s Jewel Box (from which the Jewel Box Revue would later spring). They needed help with their show, and Stormé offered to do an act of male impersonation. Many told her she shouldn’t do drag, but she didn’t care, and what was intended as a 6 month gig turned into 14 years. “It was very easy. All I had to do was just be me and let people use their imaginations,” DeLarverie was quoted as saying in the short film Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box. “It never changed me. I was still a woman.” Some say her performances inspired other lesbians in New York at the time to dress in more traditionally masculine attire.

 Shortly after the Stonewall Riots, her girlfriend of 25 years, a dancer named Diana, passed away, and DeLarverie gave up on performing almost entirely. Instead, she turned to security - becoming a bodyguard for wealthy families during the day, and a bouncer at various lesbian bars at night. She had no tolerance for what she called “ugly” (rudeness, bullying, intolerance, etc) at her “baby girls” in the bars. One such bar was the Cubbyhole, and she continued to work there when it became known as Henrietta Hudson. DeLarverie was on staff until she was 85 years old. “She literally walked the streets of downtown Manhattan like a gay superhero,” her longtime friend Lisa Cannistraci told The New York Times, “She was not to be messed with by any stretch of the imagination.” Cannistraci helped take care of DeLarverie during her later years.

  Stormé DeLarverie died in her sleep on May 24th, 2014 at the age of 93. Throughout her entire life, she fought for everyone to have the ability to be themselves. Here at NEAT, we encourage you to honor her spirit and help everyone you meet feel comfortable enough to be their authentic self!

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Intersections: Reproductive Rights

12/10/2019

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This month’s Intersections revolves around a high-profile case pending before the Supreme Court of the United States, Gee v. June Medical Services, often referred to as the Louisiana abortion clinics case. The case is centered on a Louisiana law requiring doctors who work out of healthcare centers providing abortions to also have admitting privileges at a local hospital (within 30 miles). This may sound generally reasonable, but in reality it’s an indirect way of closing healthcare facilities where abortions are available and skirting the legal principles established by the historical Roe v. Wade decision. Notably, the Supreme Court overturned an identical law by the State of Texas three years ago. Gee is a way for anti-abortion interests to test the new membership of the Supreme Court in an attempt to limit or overturn that recent decision.

The tireless team at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) took on the responsibility to file a “friend-of-the-court” brief in support of the healthcare providers in Lousiana. NCLR’s brief before the high court was submitted to share the unique perspective of LGBTQ+ organizations in relation to the Louisiana law and its effects.

In addition to other important points, NCLR argues that closing of abortion clinics in the state of Louisiana will restrict access to healthcare, and that the LGBTQ+ community is already disproportionately impacted in this aspect of society. In summary, the brief states that “[m]embers of the LGBTQ+ community have historically struggled to access basic health care because of stigma arising from social and political beliefs about sex, gender roles, and childbearing. This stigma has led the LGBTQ+ population to experience significant health disparities compared to other populations.“ In one example, NCLR points to “…the National Center for Transgender Equality’s 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey [which] indicate[s] that 23% of respondents did not see a provider for needed health care because of fears of mistreatment or discrimination. The survey found that in Louisiana, 27% avoided seeking medical care due to fears of mistreatment, and 35% did not see a doctor when needed because they could not afford it.” NCLR similarly demonstrates that LGBTQ+ youth are particularly at risk and need more healthcare provider option, not less.

Access to non-judgmental healthcare and the reproductive rights of all women are a critical component of living a full and equal life for LGBTQ+ citizens. With that in mind, National Equality Action Team (NEAT) is proud to stand with NCLR and be included as a supporting organization of the amicus curiae brief.

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