letters

A Death in the Family

feel that it is important that the '

death and life of Sylvia Rivera be
noted. Here is the message I have
received from my friends from the
first days of gay liberation:

From Bob Kohler:
“Sylvia (Rivera) died this morning
[February 19] at 5:30 am, of compli-
cations arising from liver cancer.
Sylvia died in St. Vincent's hospital
where, I can honestly say, she
received extraordinary care and was
treated with the utmost respect.

“She was conscious at all
times, althoughheavily sedated. She
put up a good fight to the very end.
One of the nurses said to me this
morning, ‘Boy, was she toughl’.

“According to her wishes,
there will be a viewing at Redden's
Funeral Home on 14th St. (btw 8th &
9th) after which she will be cremat-
ed. Her ashes will be taken to The
Stonewall for a small service outside
the Bar. After that, iahorse-drawn
carriage to will take her remains to
the waterfront where some of her
ashes will be scattered.

. “Nothing has been final-
ized. I will get back to everyone with
times and particulars. Please bear in
mind that we need a day or two to
pull everything (and ourselves)
together.”

Comment by Jim
Fouratt: “As many ofyou know,
Sylvia and I first met during those
nights of the Stonewall Riots. Both

. Sylvia and Marsha P. Johnson

marched with a number of us on the
fourth night from a community meet-
ing called by the Mattachine Society
at St. John's Church on Waverly
Place to the Alternate U at 14th St
and 6th Ave. for the organizing meet-
ing of what became called (thanks to ‘
Martha Shelly) the Gay Liberation
Front. '

“From the beginning of the
first political group to form after
Stonewall, gender variant people of
all colors were present and participat-
ed. Sylvia and Marsha P. Johnson
formed a GLF Cell they named Street
Transvestites Action Revolution
(STAR). STAR members were the
core of the GLF people who founded
the first Lesbian and Gay _
Community Center in a loft building
at 3rd and 6th Ave. Sylvia was one of

the spokespeople when GLF seized a ,.

building on NYU campus.

“Sylvia fough-t his whole
life to make sure gender variant peo-
ple were included in any agenda put
forward in the name of the Gay and
Lesbian community. Sylvia chained
himself to a banister during the first
hearings for Intro 1, our civil rights
bill that. took over 20 years to finally
pass the NY City Council. Although
Sylvia had a lifelong fight with sub-
stance abuse, Sylvia never lost the
radical vision of inclusion and equal-
ity that was GLF’s goal.

“Thanks to the transgender
movement, Sylvia was finally given
the respect and love for his revolu-
tionary life. Taking up the battle for
the right of gender expression, Sylvia
found balance and real love for the
first time. Sylvia found a partner "and
a community at the Metropolitan
Community_Church. As recently as
September 7th Sylvia was railing [at]

the community to recognize gender
variance and gender expression as-a
basic human right.

“I have always respected
the insights of Sylvia and even
though we some times saw issues
differently we both recognized we _
were of the same tribe.

“I will miss Sylvia's pres-
ence. For so many years Sylvia was
the Community’s conscience. Even
when she was treated with disrespect,
she always remembered Marsha P.
Johnson's advice. ‘Treat them no
mind, girl. Get on with the business
you are here for.’

“Sylvia is gone, but
Sylvia's legacy will always live on.”

In May 1970 I learned of
the gay liberation movement at a _
Black Panther rally in New Haven

-CT, which was organized by Rev.

William Sloane Coffin (now of
Strafford). Within a month, Ihad left
school in North Carolina, showing up
in NYC with nothing but a suitcase
and a desire to connect with the
movement. Totally naive about gay
life, I found myself at the heart of the
movement and (within a week)
marching in the first gay pride
march. Sylvia's vibrant and proud
transvestism/sexuality was a major
enlightenment for me.

Without Sylvia's courage
and pride, there probably would have
been no Stonewall riot and no revolu-
tionary awakening of gays that year.
Every gay, lesbian, and trans person
who is now able to live without even
thinking about fear owes a great debt
to Sylvia and the others who created
that initial revolution.

While the [NY] Times
[obituary] uses the female pronoun in
itsreference to Sylvia, he/she lived
beyond the constraints of English
pronouns.

Bob Bland
Vershire, VT

Mother of a Hero

A woman I never met died last night.
I'm very sorry I never met her, and

I'm sorrier that I never wrote her the _
note I've been composing in my head

for the past six months. So, althoug’ ' ‘~’ ;
she'll never read it. I want to share«t___,,

with OITM readers:
Dear Mrs. Lippert.

You don't know me, but I'm
writing to thank you for your son,
Bill. I have been greatly privileged in
the past few years to know him,

‘ watch him work. and even work with

him. I've seen firsthand the results of
what I can only surmise are your
wonderful parenting skills.

As the mother of a child
about to enter her teens. I find myself
wanting to know what you did in
Bill's childhood to ‘instill in him the
courage, intelligence, and integrity
we've seen so clearly in evidence as
he continually puts himself on the
line for our community. Whatever
you did, I thank you for it.

I know how proud you
must be of Bill. From talking to him,
I know you have been tremendously
supportive and a great source of
strength for him. I thank you for that,
as well. I know that without Bill, the
LGBT community in Vermont
wouldn't be where it is now and
without you, I suspect he couldn't
have done what he did.

_ You are truly the mother of
a hero.

With all my gratitude,
Barbara Dozetos