Stonewall, silences and hurts: an analysis from the documentary “The death and life of Marsha P. Johnson”

Abstract

This work deals with the relationship between memory, erasures and intersectionality from the analysis of the documentary “The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson”. The analytical focus fell on the complex process of producing memories and forgetfulness that culminated in the rise of the Stonewall Riots as a symbol of LGBTQ resistance and the simultaneous erasure of the contribution of historical activists like Marsha P. Johnson in this process. Black, trans and poor, Marsha dies in obscure circumstances taking with her a legacy of struggle that has been erased from the narratives that marked Gay Libertation. The intersectional analysis of the documentary shows how the construction of the narratives that celebrate the Stonewall as a primordial landmark of the modern gay movement started from a framework that privileged a homonormative view of the event, sentencing presences like Marsha's to silence.