On the 54th anniversary of the start of the Stonewall riots, we #TakeBackPride for Stormé DeLarverie, butch lesbian and according to eyewitnesses, the true catalyst to start the uprising.
DeLarverie was roughly escorted in handcuffs from the door of the Stonewall Inn to a police van. Fighting with a group of policemen, resisting her unfair arrest, she shouted “Why don’t you guys do something?” She was shoved in the van, sparking the rebellion.
DeLarverie and witnesses say she threw the first punch.
After the uprising, she was a member of the Stonewall Veterans’ Association and volunteered as a street patrol worker, the ‘guardian of lesbians in the Village’.
She also organised and performed at benefit events for women and children affected by domestic violence.
With the modern push to erase lesbians it is even more important to remember that it was a lesbian who started the Stonewall riots.
