More than 24,000 sign petition to replace New Jersey city's Columbus statue with one of Marsha P. Johnson
By Rebecca Klar - 06/29/20 03:24 PM EDT
More than 24,000 people have signed an online petition to replace a statue of Christopher Columbus in Elizabeth, N.J., with one of Marsha P. Johnson, an LGBTQ activist who was born there.
“We should commemorate Marsha P. Johnson for the incredible things she did in her lifetime and for the inspiration she is to members of the LGBT+ community worldwide, especially black trans women,†wrote Celine De Silva, the organizer of the Change.org petition, which had nearly reached its goal of 25,000 signatures as of Monday afternoon.
Johnson, a black trans woman, was a central figure in the 1969 Stonewall uprisings in New York. She also helped found the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group that housed homeless and transgender youth, with fellow activist Sylvia Rivera.
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