Sylvia Rivera (with Christina Hayworth and Julia Murray)

Object Details

Artist

Luis Carle, born 1962

Sitter

Sylvia Rivera, 2 Jul 1951 - 19 Feb 2002

Christina Hayworth, 20th century

Julia Murray, 20th century

Exhibition Label

A forerunner in the fight against gender identity discrimination, Sylvia Rivera worked the dicey Times Square district as a trans woman sex worker after she was cast out by family as a teenager. She was there in 1969 at the turning point of the modern LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) struggle for equal rights, when patrons of the Stonewall Inn violently rebuffed a police raid. Politicized by this experience, Rivera campaigned with the Gay Activist Alliance (GAA) in urging the city to enact a nondiscrimination ordinance. However, facing racism and discrimination as a Latina transgender by the mainly white male GAA leadership, she began to work with homeless teenagers, co-founding the militant group and shelter STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries). In the 1990s Rivera was embraced as one of the fundamental figures of the LGBT movement. This portrait shows her flanked by her partner Julia Murray (right) and activist Christina Hayworth at the Saturday Rally before New York’s Gay Pride Parade in 2000.

Credit Line

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; acquisition made possible through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center

2000

Object number

NPG.2015.37

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply

Copyright

© Luis Carle

Type

Photograph

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

Image: 43.6 × 29.1 cm (17 3/16 × 11 7/16")

Sheet: 51.3 × 36.8 cm (20 3/16 × 14 1/2")

Place

United States\New York\Kings\New York

See more items in

National Portrait Gallery Collection

National Portrait Gallery

Topic

Costume\Dress Accessory\Eyeglasses

Sign

Exterior\Park

Sylvia Rivera: Female

Sylvia Rivera: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist

Sylvia Rivera: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist\LGBT rights activist

Sylvia Rivera: Society and Social Change\Transgender

Christina Hayworth: Female

Christina Hayworth: Military\Army\Officer\Colonel

Christina Hayworth: Performing Arts\Producer

Christina Hayworth: Performing Arts\Performer\Actress

Christina Hayworth: Society and Social Change\Transgender

Julia Murray: Female

Portrait

Record ID

npg_NPG.2015.37

Metadata Usage (text)

Usage conditions apply

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4913b47d8-1c1c-4114-a660-df8e11691be2