American LGBTQ rights activist Sylvia Rivera
Credit: © Justin Sutcliffe, AP Photo

Today, March 31, 2023, is International Transgender Day of Visibility. On this day, people around the world celebrate transgender voices. Transgender is a term for individuals whose identity or self-expression does not match their assigned gender. At a time when transgender rights are in the news and on the dockets throughout the United States, it is important to look at activists who have fought to protect the rights of transgender individuals, such as Sylvia Rivera.

Sylvia Rivera was an American activist for LGBTQ rights. LGBTQ is an abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning. Rivera is remembered for being a leader during the Stonewall uprising, a series of demonstrations for gay rights that took place in New York City in late June and early July 1969. Rivera was a drag queen (cross-dressing performer) and a transgender woman.

Rivera advocated on behalf of drag queens, homeless queer youth, and imprisoned gay people, groups sometimes overlooked by mainstream LGBTQ advocates. Rivera focused on the intersectional aspects of poverty, race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Intersectionality refers to the ways in which different kinds of discrimination can interact and affect one another.

Rivera participated in a riot at the Stonewall Inn in June 1969, after police officers attempted to close the bar, which served primarily gay and transgender customers. In 1970, Rivera joined with the American transgender activist Marsha P. Johnson to found the Street Transvestite (later changed to Transgender) Action Revolutionaries (STAR). STAR had a variety of missions, including helping homeless transgender youth, advocating for sexual freedom, and allying the gay rights movement with other civil rights movements. Rivera also worked to help pass New York’s Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act (SONDA). The law, which went into effect in 2003, prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, education, and a variety of other areas.

Ray Rivera Mendoza was born on July 2, 1951, in New York City and assigned the male gender. Rivera grew up in the care of a grandmother who disapproved of Rivera’s often gender-defiant behavior, such as wearing makeup. Because of her continued expression and exploration of feminine qualities, Rivera became homeless by age 11. To survive, Rivera worked as a prostitute. She found a community among New York City’s drag queens and adopted the name Sylvia. Rivera died on Feb. 19, 2002.

A woman carries the Pan-African flag, a symbol of Black unity, at a Juneteenth parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Juneteenth celebrations commemorate the freeing of slaves in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.
Credit: © Tippman98x/Shutterstock

June 19 is Juneteenth, a festival held in many Black and other communities to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. The name of the festival refers to the date, June 19—the day the last slaves were freed in the southern state of Texas in 1865. Juneteenth festivities often include plays and storytelling, parades, prayer services, and family reunions. Some communities hold longer Juneteenth festivals spanning several days as a celebration of civil rights and freedom.

People wait for floats to pass by during a parade celebrating Juneteenth in the historically Black town of Bastrop, near Austin, Texas USA. Credit: © Bob Daemmrich, Alamy Images

Last year’s Juneteenth looked different than celebrations past, because of the ongoing pandemic (global outbreak) of the coronavirus disease COVID-19. This year, festive Juneteenth celebrations have resumed in many places. Parades and festivals throughout the country will commemorate and celebrate Black life in America. If attending crowded events does not yet feel safe to you, you can celebrate Juneteenth by supporting Black-owned businesses, including stores and restaurants.

One way the national government is celebrating Juneteenth this year and for years to come is by making it a federal holiday. This week, Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed into law a bill to officially recognize Juneteenth each year.

Juneteenth originated in Texas at the end of the American Civil War (1861-1865). In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared freedom for the slaves in Confederate states in rebellion against the Union. However, many slave owners in Texas suppressed information about the emancipation even after the war ended in April 1865. On June 19, Gordon Granger, a Union general, entered Galveston, Texas, and ordered all slaves in the state to be freed. About 250,000 people, among the last slaves remaining in the United States, were freed.

Juneteenth celebrations were held only in Texas and a few communities in other southern states in the years following the Civil War. Black people carried the celebration with them, however, as they migrated to other regions of the country. The push to make Juneteenth a federal holiday gained momentum in 2020, during the widespread Black Lives Matter protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd.

U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe
© Romain Biard, Shutterstock

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

The professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe is a champion both on and off the field. As a midfielder for the U.S. Women’s National Team, Rapinoe is known for her dynamic skills as a scorer and playmaker. In soccer, a playmaker controls a team’s offense, often coordinating scoring chances through precise passing. Off the field, Rapinoe—along with her soccer-playing twin sister, Rachael—runs soccer training clinics. She has also worked with a number of human rights organizations, including groups devoted to LGBTQ+ rights.

Rapinoe helped the U.S. Women’s National Team to win a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. In 2015 and again in 2019, she helped lead the United States to FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament championships. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football). FIFA is the governing body for soccer, which is called football in many parts of the world. In 2019, Rapinoe was awarded the Golden Ball as the World Cup tournament’s best player. Rapinoe also played on the U.S. World Cup team in 2011 and the U.S. Olympic team in 2016. In 2019, Rapinoe earned the Best FIFA Women’s Player award as soccer’s best female player. The award replaced the Ballon d’Or in 2016.

Megan Anna Rapinoe was born on July 5, 1985, in Redding, California. She began playing soccer when she was young. In high school, Rapinoe played for Elk Grove Pride United, a team for players under age 19, and the Elk Grove Pride of the Women’s Premier Soccer League, a semiprofessional league in the second tier of women’s soccer in the United States. Rapinoe then played soccer at the University of Portland in Oregon, where she helped the team win a college national championship in 2005. She also played on U.S. national youth teams before debuting for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 2006. Injuries caused her to miss international tournaments in 2007 and 2008.

From 2009 through 2012, Rapinoe played in the Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league and the United Soccer League’s W-League. Rapinoe also played for Olympique Lyonnais in France’s top women’s league. Since 2013, Rapinoe has played for the Seattle Reign FC (now OL Reign) of the National Women’s Soccer League, the top tier of women’s soccer in the United States.