In “Lies, Myths, and Stonewall,” Martha Shelley, one of the founders of the Gay Liberation Front formed in the aftermath of the Stonewall riots, wrote:
Newspaper accounts at the time, and historians who interviewed hundreds of people, report that the rioters were mostly young white gay men. … Now it seems, however, that a subset of the trans movement has appropriated the history, along with various leftists who want to be seen as allies. About a year ago, Democracy Now! reported that the riots were led by “transwomen of color.” This is so far from actual events that I wrote to them trying to correct the misinformation but never heard back.
The way the legend goes these days is that two transwomen, Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, led the Stonewall rebellion. … Here’s what I know and remember about Rivera and Johnson: First, they called themselves transvestites, not transgender. Few people, if any, identified as transgender in those days. They identified themselves as male or female at different times. Then, as Johnson herself said afterwards, she didn’t arrive at the Stonewall that evening until 2:00 am, long after the rebellion had started. Rivera was uptown all evening and never participated in the riots. I remember, myself, that immediately afterward they were not leaders of or even participants in the movement for gay rights.
Gay history and gay heroes are being erased, and gay people who speak out against this face the wrath of LGBTQ+ lobbies that have replaced what was once the movement for “gay liberation” and lesbian and gay equal rights.