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Stormé DeLarverie

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Stormé DeLarverie (c. December 24, 1920 – May 24, 2014) was an American woman known as the butch lesbian whose scuffle with police was, according to DeLarverie and many eyewitnesses, the spark that ignited the Stonewall uprising, spurring the crowd to action.[3] She was born in New Orleans, to an African American mother and a white father.[3][4][5] She is remembered as a gay civil rights icon and entertainer, who performed and hosted at the Apollo Theater and Radio City Music Hall.[3] She worked for much of her life as an MC, singer, bouncer, bodyguard, and volunteer street patrol worker, the "guardian of lesbians in the Village".[5] She is known as "the Rosa Parks of the gay community."[3][6][7][8][9][10]

Stormé DeLarverie
DeLarverie, c. 1950s
Born
Viva May Thomas[1][2]

c. December 24, 1920
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
DiedMay 24, 2014(2014-05-24) (aged 93)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Master of Ceremonies, bodyguard, singer, bouncer, drag king

Before Stonewall

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DeLarverie's father was white and wealthy.[11] Her mother was African American and worked as a servant for his family.[3][5] According to DeLarverie, she was never given a birth certificate and was not certain of her actual date of birth.[12] She celebrated her birthday on December 24, Christmas Eve.[5][11][13]

Her father paid for her education, and she was largely raised by her grandfather.[11] As a biracial child, DeLarverie faced bullying and harassment from the other children.[3][12][14] "The white kids were beating me up; the Black kids were. Everybody was jumping on me. ... For being a negro with a white face."[11] She rode jumping horses with the Ringling Brothers Circus when she was a teenager. She stopped riding horses after being injured in a fall. She realized she was lesbian near the age of eighteen.[3]

Biracial and androgynous, she could pass for white or Black, male or female. She was picked up twice on the streets by police who mistook her for a drag queen.[11]

Her partner, a dancer named Diana, lived with her for about 25 years until dying in the 1970s.[12] According to friend Lisa Cannistraci, DeLarverie carried a photograph of Diana with her at all times.[5]

Stonewall uprising

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"Everybody knows Black lesbian female homosexual Stormé started Stonewall" banner at EuroPride, Vienna, Austria, 2019

Decades later, the events of June 28, 1969, have been called "the Stonewall riots". However, DeLarverie was very clear that "riot" is a misleading description:

It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience – it wasn't no damn riot.

— Stormé DeLarverie[3][15][16]

At the Stonewall rebellion, a scuffle broke out when DeLarverie was roughly escorted from the door of the bar to the waiting police wagon. She was brought through the crowd by police several times, as she escaped repeatedly. She fought with at least four of the police, swearing and shouting, for about ten minutes. Described by a witness as "a typical New York City butch" and "a dyke-stone butch," she had been hit on the head by an officer with a baton for, as one witness stated, announcing that her handcuffs were too tight. She was bleeding from a head wound as she fought back. Accounts of people who witnessed the scene, including letters and news reports of the woman who fought with police, conflicted. Where witnesses claim one woman who fought her treatment at the hands of the police caused the crowd to become angry, some also remembered several "butch lesbians" had begun to fight back while still in the bar. At least one was already bleeding when taken out of the bar (Carter, pp. 152–153). Craig Rodwell (in Duberman, p. 197) claims the arrest of the woman was not the primary event that triggered the violence, but one of several simultaneous occurrences: "there was just ... a flash of group—of mass—anger." The sole argument raised against this woman being DeLarverie is that some witnesses reported this woman was "caucasian" (Carter, p. 309). But as a biracial woman, DeLarverie could appear Black, white, or biracial, depending on lighting, dress, and the expectations of the audience.[5][17][18] sparked the crowd to fight when she looked at bystanders and shouted, "Why don't you guys do something?" After an officer picked her up and heaved her into the back of the wagon, the crowd became a mob and went "berserk": "It was at that moment that the scene became explosive." Some have referred to that woman as "the gay community's Rosa Parks".[3][6]

"Nobody knows who threw the first punch, but it's rumored that she did, and she said she did," said Lisa Cannistraci, a friend of DeLarverie and owner of the Village lesbian bar Henrietta Hudson. "She told me she did."[5]

Whether or not DeLarverie was the woman who fought her way out of the police wagon, all accounts agree that she was one of several butch lesbians who fought back against the police during the uprising.[3][5]

The Jewel Box Revue

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From 1955 to 1969 DeLarverie toured the Black theater circuit as the MC (and only drag king) of the Jewel Box Revue, North America's first racially integrated drag revue.[19][20] The revue regularly played the Apollo Theater in Harlem,[21] as well as to mixed-race audiences, something that was still rare during the era of Racial segregation in the United States.[10] She performed as a baritone.[22]

During shows audience members would try to guess who the "one girl" was, among the revue performers, and at the end Stormé would reveal herself as a woman[14] during a musical number called, "A Surprise with a Song," often wearing tailored suits and sometimes a moustache that made her "unidentifiable" to audience members. As a singer, she drew inspiration from Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday (both of whom she knew in person). During this era when there were very few drag kings performing, her unique drag style and subversive performances became celebrated, influential, and are now known to have set a historic precedent.[13][23]

In 1987 Michelle Parkerson released the first cut of the movie, Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box, about DeLarverie and her time with the revue.[19]

Influence on fashion

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With her theatrical experience in costuming, performance and makeup, biracial DeLarverie could pass as either a man or a woman, Black or white.[17] Offstage, she cut a striking, handsome, androgynous presence, and inspired other lesbians to adopt what had formerly been considered "men's" clothing as street wear.[10] She was photographed by renowned artist Diane Arbus,[21] as well as other friends and lovers in the arts community, in three piece suits and "men's" hats; Arbus' photographs of DeLarverie have appeared in multiple retrospectives, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2016.[17][24] She is now considered to have been an influence on gender-nonconforming women's fashion decades before unisex styles became accepted.[13][23]  

Life after Stonewall

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DeLarverie's role in the Gay liberation movement lasted long after the uprisings of 1969.[5]

In the 1980s and 1990s she worked as a bouncer for several lesbian bars in New York City, including Elaine Romagnoli's Cubbyhole.[5][25][26] She was a member of the Stonewall Veterans' Association, holding the offices of Chief of Security, Ambassador and, in 1998 to 2000, Vice President.[15][27] She was a regular at the gay pride parade. For decades DeLarverie served the community as a volunteer street patrol worker, the "guardian of lesbians in the Village."[5]

Tall, androgynous and armed – she held a state gun permit – Ms. DeLarverie roamed lower Seventh and Eighth Avenues and points between into her 80s, patrolling the sidewalks and checking in at lesbian bars. She was on the lookout for what she called "ugliness": any form of intolerance, bullying or abuse of her "baby girls." ... "She literally walked the streets of downtown Manhattan like a gay superhero. ... She was not to be messed with by any stretch of the imagination."

— DeLarverie's obituary in The New York Times[5]

In addition to her work for the LGBT community, she also organized and performed at benefits for battered women and children.[10] When asked about why she chose to do this work, she replied, "Somebody has to care. People say, 'Why do you still do that?' I said, 'It's very simple. If people didn't care about me when I was growing up, with my mother being black, raised in the south.' I said, 'I wouldn't be here.'"[10]

For several decades, DeLarverie lived at New York City's famous Hotel Chelsea,[28][29][30] where she "thrived on the atmosphere created by the many writers, musicians, artists, and actors."[3][6] Cannistraci says that DeLarverie continued working as a bouncer until age 85.[3]

In June 2019, DeLarverie was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City's Stonewall Inn.[31][32] The SNM is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history,[33] and the wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.[34]

Illness and death

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DeLarverie suffered from dementia in her later years.[3][20] From 2010 to 2014, she lived in a nursing home in Brooklyn.[5][30] Though she seemingly did not recognize she was in a nursing home, her memories of her childhood and the Stonewall Uprisings remained strong.[3]

On June 7, 2012, Brooklyn Pride, Inc. honored Stormé DeLarverie at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. Michelle Parkerson's film, Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box, was screened. On April 24, 2014, DeLarverie was honored alongside Edith Windsor by the Brooklyn Community Pride Center,[8] "for her fearlessness and bravery"[9] and was also presented with a proclamation from New York City Public Advocate, Letitia James.[9]

She died in her sleep on May 24, 2014, in Brooklyn.[3][5] No immediate family members were alive at her time of death.[5] Lisa Cannistraci, who became one of DeLarverie's legal guardians, stated that the cause of death was a heart attack.[5] She remembers DeLarverie as "a very serious woman when it came to protecting people she loved."[35] A funeral was held May 29, 2014, at the Greenwich Village Funeral Home.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Who's Storme?". storme-delarverie.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  2. ^ "Finding Viva Hublitz". storme-delarverie.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Chu, Grace (July 26, 2010). "From the Archives: An interview with lesbian Stonewall veteran Stormé DeLarverie". AfterEllen.com. Archived from the original on April 16, 2020. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  4. ^ Goethals, George (2004). Encyclopedia of Leadership – Volume 1. Thousand Oaks: Berkshire Publishing Group LLC. p. 1494. ISBN 0-7619-2597-X.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Yardley, William (May 29, 2014) "Storme DeLarverie, Early Leader in the Gay Rights Movement, Dies at 93 Archived June 29, 2021, at the Wayback Machine" in The New York Times.
  6. ^ a b c Luce, James (07/12/2010) "Gay Community's Rosa Parks Faces Death, Impoverished and Alone Archived March 20, 2017, at the Wayback Machine" in the Huffington Post. Retrieved 3/22/15
  7. ^ Gremore, Graham (May 27, 2014). "Stormé DeLarverie, "Rosa Parks" Of The Gay Rights Movement, Dies at 93". Queerty. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  8. ^ a b "Stormé DeLarverie – the gay community's "Rosa Parks" – to be honored this Thursday at the 2014 Founders' Ball". henriettahudson.com. April 24, 2014. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  9. ^ a b c Potts, Andrew (May 28, 2014). "Stonewall Riots veteran Storme DeLarverie dies at 93". gaystarnews.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  10. ^ a b c d e Bendix, Trish (May 27, 2014). "Stormé DeLarverie passes away, the community loses a legend". gaystarnews.com. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d e Stormé Life. 2001. Event occurs at 1:36. Archived from the original on June 17, 2022. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c Goodman, Elyssa (March 29, 2018). "A Drag King's Journey From Cabaret Legend to Iconic Activist". them. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  13. ^ a b c "A Drag King's Journey From Cabaret Legend to Iconic Activist". them. March 29, 2018. Archived from the original on June 27, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  14. ^ a b "The Cowboy Of The West Village | Nancy". WNYC Studios. Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  15. ^ a b K, Kristi (May 28, 2014). "Something Like A Super Lesbian: Stormé DeLarverie (In Memoriam)". thekword.com. Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  16. ^ "K. Stormé DeLarverie, "Storme on Stonewall"". STONEWALL Veterans' Association. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2018.
  17. ^ a b c Drinkwater, Erin M. (June 14, 2014). "Remembering Storme DeLarverie". GO. Archived from the original on February 28, 2021. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  18. ^ K. Storme DeLarverie w/Williamson. "Stormé DeLarverie, S.V.A. Stonewall Ambassador * Jewel Box Revue * Imperial QUEENS & Kings of NY". stonewallvets.org. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  19. ^ a b "Women Make Movies | Storme The Lady of the Jewel Box". Wmm.com. n.d. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
  20. ^ a b DEEPTI HAJELA. "Stonewall activist Storme DeLarverie dies at 93". sandiegouniontribune.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  21. ^ a b Fernandez, Manny (June 27, 2010). "A Stonewall Veteran, 89, Misses the Parade". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
  22. ^ West, Robert (March 26, 2013). "Stormé DeLarverie: In a Storm of Indifference, She's Still a Jewel". HuffPost. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  23. ^ a b "Long Live the Legacy of Storme DeLarverie". Vocativ. June 27, 2014. Archived from the original on March 9, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  24. ^ Tashjian, Rachel (June 27, 2019). "A Brief History of Stormé DeLarverie, Stonewall's Suiting Icon". GQ. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  25. ^ Harbin, Billy J.; Marra, Kim; Schanke, Robert A. (n.d.). The gay & lesbian theatrical legacy ... – Google Books. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472098586. Archived from the original on July 6, 2024. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
  26. ^ Sparacino, Gia (December 9, 2021). "Lesbian Bar Legend Elaine Romagnoli Passes, Queer Spaces Die With Her". Medium. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  27. ^ a b "Stonewall Veteran, Drag King Icon Stormé DeLarverie Dies at 93". May 27, 2014. Archived from the original on October 12, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  28. ^ "Storme DeLarverie Live From the Chelsea Hotel". Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  29. ^ "A Toast To Storme DeLarverie". Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog. Archived from the original on June 15, 2021. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  30. ^ a b "A Call For Activists to Rally Around Storme Delarverie". Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  31. ^ Glasses-Baker, Becca (June 27, 2019). "National LGBTQ Wall of Honor unveiled at Stonewall Inn". metro.us. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  32. ^ Rawles, Timothy (June 19, 2019). "National LGBTQ Wall of Honor to be unveiled at historic Stonewall Inn". San Diego Gay and Lesbian News. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  33. ^ "Groups seek names for Stonewall 50 honor wall". The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc. Archived from the original on May 10, 2020. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  34. ^ "Stonewall 50". San Francisco Bay Times. April 3, 2019. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
  35. ^ DEEPTI HAJELA. "Stonewall activist Storme DeLarverie dies at 93". sandiegouniontribune.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2017.

Sources

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