All eighth graders in LREI went to the Museum of the City of New York, where we learned about topics such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Liberation Movement, and the Trans Liberation Movement. I was specifically drawn to the Trans Liberation section, since not only did it relate to my Citizen Action Project, but I also enjoyed learning about the history of trans activists. Two of them being Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who both started the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries, or STAR, for short. This movement, formed in 1970, was formed to empower transgender women of color and was the first movement in the United States to center around trans rights. Although STAR faced heavy backlash from the Women’s Liberation Movement and many gay-centered spaces, it still has a significant effect on New Yorkers today. Because of STAR, the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act in New York was passed. 

This is just one example of the movements, people, and art they included in the museum’s exhibit. Still, there are many more: “Spotlight Stories” pamphlets, which talked about access to sexual health for trans people, postcards from the early 2000s when New York City law stated discrimination against trans people was illegal, and the Gay Liberation Front, which was a movement made in response to the raids and arrests in the Stonewall Inn in 1969. All of these are a significant part of New York and trans history, which not only relates to our Citizen Action Project, but is fun to learn about.