Afterlives: Marsha P. Johnson

In light of Miss Major's passing on October 13th, we're honoring the story of a true legend and sharing never heard before excerpts of her interview for Afterlives. May she rest in power and may we never lose sight of her legacy. 

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Tune in to a magical night spent at The Stonewall Inn celebrating Marsha's 80th Birthday! The Afterlives live show kicked off with an unforgettable performance by Hot Peach Michael Michelle Lynch, followed by the brilliant insights of Marsha's biographer Tourmaline, and closed out with words from Marsha's friends and family, plus a group rendition of Happy Birthday!

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We need YOUR vote to win a Signal Award. We’re SO excited to announce that Afterlives: Marsha P. Johnson is a finalist for Best LGBTQ+ Limited Series! It means so much to our whole team and this is an incredible opportunity to share Marsha's story with all new listeners. If you enjoyed listening, please VOTE HERE: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting#/2025/limited-series-specials/genre/lgbtq

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Before Pride was corporate. Before protections. Before visibility. There was survival—and there was community.

In this bonus episode, we sit at the feet of two living legends of New York’s queer underground. First Ceyenne Doroshow - the performer, activist, researcher and the unstoppable force behind G.L.I.T.S. - takes us back to Brooklyn in the ‘70s and ‘80s, where she came of age as a young Black trans girl. She shares stories of unlikely protectors, neighbors who supported her in unexpected ways, the nightclubs she’ll never forget, and how she met her community mother –  an icon in her own right. 

Then Stonewall veteran, activist, and self-identified Super Butch, Jay Toole drops us straight into their life on the streets as a teenager – sleeping in Washington Square Park and finding family among queer kids who the world left behind. Plus, they share a queer love story for the ages. Jay also wants to shout out LGBTQ+ organizations carrying the work forward today: The Audre Lorde Project, Transgender Law Center, and The Trevor Project.

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Hear the story of the brilliant activist, artist and writer who has been researching Marsha for nearly 20 years! We’re sharing unaired segments of our multiple conversations with Tourmaline, so you can learn more about her book, her creative process across mediums, and her wide ranging scholarship of Black trans lives. Coinciding with her recent biography Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson, Tourmaline also published a children’s book about Marsha, One Day in June. Plus, you can dig through her old Tumblr posts where she shared some archival research about Marsha. Tourmaline got close to Marsha's world early in her career as an organizer, working with the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Queers for Economic Justice and other organizations. She’s also a filmmaker whose work beautifully spotlights our community. You can check out The Personal Things about Miss Major and Atlantic is a Sea of Bones about Egyptt LaBejia. And of course there’s her film, Happy Birthday, Marsha!.

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These days, you don’t have to go far to find Marsha. Every June, big box stores roll out the Pride merch, with t-shirts, candles, and ornaments adorned with Marsha’s image. But what happens when those corporations don’t see our stories as profitable anymore? Trans folks are doing what we’ve always done, showing up for each other. Hear from our community leaders and elders who are speaking out, helping people find housing and safety, and preserving our history. That’s Marsha’s real legacy. And it matters more than ever.

Learn more about G.L.I.T.S., House of gg, and other organizations that support the trans community like The Audre Lorde Project and Transgender Law Center. You can also find more information about the Michaels' family foundation. Plus learn more about Safara Malone’s activism and hear more from her on Queer Chronicles, another podcast hosted by Raquel. As always, you can find additional content on our Instagram @afterlives.pod.

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Marsha spent the final days of her life surrounded by people who loved her. When she was struggling with an oncoming breakdown, a friend escaped with her to a cottage on the beach. Her final Pride was filled with love and appreciation as she marched down the streets with her fellow revolutionary, Sylvia Rivera. Just days later, though, Marsha’s body was found in the Hudson River. The police immediately declared it a suicide, but friends and family refused to accept that and organized for further investigation. We take you inside the efforts to find out what really happened and bring you to the beautiful and epic memorials that celebrated her life.

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The AIDS crisis devastated our community in the 1980s. It’s an era defined by loss. But those feelings of helplessness gave rise to unprecedented love in the form of caretaking and bold activism. For Marsha, the 80s were all of these things. The era was also marked by a new home and a chosen family in Hoboken, New Jersey. Hear how Marsha found stability, took care of herself, and provided softness and love during one of the darkest moments in our history. 

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Marsha’s status as an icon extends beyond activism and into the arts. She was an inspiration to others and a creative in her own right. From her trendsetting DIY looks salvaged from New York’s dumpsters to her appearances with a downtown gay theater troupe, Marsha was immersed in the underground art world. In performances at home and abroad, she rarely sang on key and had to read her lines on stage. But still, audiences cheered her name and called for encores. Listen in as we explore Marsha’s style and artistry, along with the complex reality of being a muse to some of the biggest names in New York.

Check out our Instagram @afterlives.pod to see the photos and videos we mention in this episode. Plus, check out Randy Wicker’s Flickr album to see even more of Marsha’s legendary looks. You can also listen to Marsha P. Johnons’s 1979 interview with Steven Watson courtesy of Artifacts at www.artifacts.movie.

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“STAR is into two things very heavily. One is radical politics. And the second is prostitution.” At least that’s how one journalist in the 1970s described the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group started by Marsha and fellow trans organizers. Life on the streets and with STAR meant freedom and friendship, but it could also be really tough. Marsha was candid about that. She wanted to build a better future for unhoused trans and gender nonconforming young people, and we’ll hear stories about what that looked like day to day, from parties and puppies to “liberating” food for the kids, as Marsha would put it. The STARs had big goals. But things came crashing down as quickly as they had started. As Marsha experienced life’s hardships, we’ll examine the toll it took on her mental health.

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