The 1969 Stonewall Uprising, a foundational myth of gay liberation, was led by trans women of color, including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. In the early gay rights movement, trans individuals were not merely allies; they were foot soldiers. However, as the movement professionalized in the 1970s and 1980s, cisgender gay leaders—seeking respectability—increasingly marginalized trans people, excluding them from the 1973 Christopher Street Liberation Day march (Stryker, 2008).

The transgender community has gifted LGBTQ culture with some of its most vital tools: a radical rethinking of language, a unique aesthetic sensibility, and a tradition of chosen family.

In the 1960s and 1970s, trans women like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera played key roles in the Stonewall uprising and subsequent activism. However, the transgender community faced increased marginalization in the 1980s, particularly with the rise of the AIDS epidemic and the subsequent focus on gay men's health.