Dear readers, take note that on May 20, 2025 Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson by Tourmaline is available for purchase. This new work is a biography of beloved transcestor Marsha P. Johnson who was a prominent gay liberation activist and drag queen living in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. This is the first full biography of this important queer figure. Its author, Tourmaline, is an American artist, activist, and writer, known for her work with the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Queers for Economic Justice, and Critical Resistance. She, like the subject of her book, is a queer trailblazer from New York City. She also has a children’s picture book titled One Day In June that is also set to come out on May 20 as well. Tourmaline is currently touring and promoting these books, and they are already receiving glowing reviews. We’ve provided you two treats. The first is a filmed episode of the podcast The Bitchuation Room with Francesca Fiorentini. The conversation explores these new books, Tourmaline’s motivation for writing them, and the anti-trans/anti-queer American political context within which they are emerging. Peep the video below! Second, you can access a podcast episode for Code Switch here. In it, B.A. Parker and Tourmaline discuss Marsha P. Johnson and why she is such an important trailblazer in the pursuit of sociopolitical justice.
New Biography on Marsha P. Johnson
