From Stonewall to Pride, the fight for equal rights has been rooted in resistance led by Black transwomen

An unidentified participant in a New York City Pride March during the 1980s. Mariett Pathy Allen/Getty Images

Its unclear who threw the first brick at Stonewall Inn on that night in New York City that arguably launched the gay rights liberation movement.

As part of queer lore, Marsha P. Johnson, a Black transwoman at the forefront of gay liberation, or Sylvia Rivera, a Latina transwoman, was the first. But based on their accounts of that night of June 28, 1969, neither threw that first brick.