I said, ‘I will not! And, don’t you dare touch me.'

May 27, 2014 5:02 PM

Stormé DeLarverie, drag king, activist and veteran of the Stonewall rebellion, has died at the age of 93.

"It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience -- it wasn't no damn riot."

posted by roomthreeseventeen (47 comments total)

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posted by janey47 at 5:09 PM on May 27, 2014

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posted by zeypher at 6:02 PM on May 27, 2014

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posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:09 PM on May 27, 2014

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I'm glad she lived to see the changes of the past few years.
posted by oneironaut at 6:10 PM on May 27, 2014 [5 favorites]

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posted by and they trembled before her fury at 6:16 PM on May 27, 2014

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posted by missmary6 at 6:21 PM on May 27, 2014

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I've been reading this book, which is a history of how taverns have been involved in major movements in American history from the get-go. It mentions Stonewall as part of that history, so now, after reading about this character, I'm looking even more forward to that chapter.
posted by jonmc at 6:35 PM on May 27, 2014

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posted by oceanjesse at 6:42 PM on May 27, 2014

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posted by hippybear at 7:31 PM on May 27, 2014

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'Thank you' is an utterly inadequate thing to say for helping to start the movement that lets me live free and out and proud, and with the ability to get married, even, at such major risk to your own health and well-being and safety.

But it's all I've got. Thank you.

it's onions I tell you, onions
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:34 PM on May 27, 2014 [10 favorites]

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posted by Four-Eyed Girl at 7:41 PM on May 27, 2014

What an amazing, brave, and strong woman.

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posted by winna at 8:06 PM on May 27, 2014

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I just learned who she was the other day - she sounds amazing.
posted by jb at 8:07 PM on May 27, 2014

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posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:11 PM on May 27, 2014

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posted by Blue Jello Elf at 8:13 PM on May 27, 2014

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posted by beefetish at 8:49 PM on May 27, 2014

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posted by Annika Cicada at 9:54 PM on May 27, 2014

But it's all I've got. Thank you.

We're standing on the shoulders of giants. She lived a life that made mine possible; I hope we can do the same for people on down the line.

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posted by rtha at 9:55 PM on May 27, 2014 [7 favorites]

There was talk elsewhere tonight, about a totally different topic, around judging historical figures choices in the past and how we should (or shouldn't) hold them accountable given the circumstances of their lives and times. And even though I definitely think you can, for what it's worth, judge people through today's lens, I think many of us our fooling ourselves to think we'd do it differently if it was us. But I can imagine in most situations, even long ago, that I would.

But then I look at the events in at DeLarverie's life, which was relatively recent, and I put myself in that situation, and I try to imagine. But I can't. I can't even fucking imagine.

(Sometimes I can't even imagine what it was like to be gay and out only 20 years ago. And I was.)


Thank you.


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posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:23 PM on May 27, 2014 [6 favorites]

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posted by ewok and chips at 12:17 AM on May 28, 2014

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posted by reprise the theme song and roll the credits at 3:29 AM on May 28, 2014

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posted by koucha at 4:56 AM on May 28, 2014

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posted by lester at 6:56 AM on May 28, 2014

I had no idea. And a New Orleanian too.


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posted by domo at 7:19 AM on May 28, 2014

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posted by Sophie1 at 7:53 AM on May 28, 2014

"I write this because freedom isn't only fought for overseas
in camouflage gear and combat boots--
Sometimes war paint is made by Maybelline
and sometimes the king is a woman
and gender is nothing but a constructed illusion
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I write this because if I don't
invisibility will be the only way
for us to be seen,
'cause sometimes boys dress like girls
and girls dress like boys
and genders are fluid
and cuffs are no longer the only bracelets
we are allowed to wear."

—from "Poem for Storme", by Karen Jaime, via Henrietta Hudson



(PS, New Yorkers: memorial service tomorrow evening at Greenwich Village Funeral Home. Details on Facebook.)
posted by FlyingMonkey at 9:33 AM on May 28, 2014 [5 favorites]

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posted by joannemerriam at 9:33 AM on May 28, 2014

... freedom isn't only fought for overseas in camouflage gear and combat boots--

quoted for truth

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posted by marsha56 at 11:21 PM on May 28, 2014