Katherine Messner,

Student Art Contest: Senior Division, Second Place

11th Grade – Burlingame High School, Burlingame, CA

My acrylic portrait, “Stars, Flowers, & Stripes” features Martha P. Johnson, an activist for LGBTQ+ rights, clad in her iconic flower crown. Taken from real

photos, she holds a ‘power to the people’ sign, underneath which are recent

anti-LGBTQ+ bills and laws that have either been passed or are in the process of becoming so. Behind that lies the faint outline of the White House, protected by large metal bars, and mirroring our government’s continued failure to protect the human rights of queer people. The painting’s prominent colors mirror those of our flag; red, white and blue.

Unlike many prominent members of the movement, she advocated for queer people of color and the transgender community, eventually founding the STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) House. This house provided a living space for many homeless queer youth living in New York at the time who’d been abandoned by their families.

During her lifetime, Johnson faced widespread discrimination for her identity and race, even risking her life to police brutality during the Stonewall Riot. However, like Minoru Yasui, Johnson refused to let this injustice dim her resolution to fight for equal rights. Though Johnson didn’t have the same legal

background, nor did she speak for Asian American discrimination, she spent her lifetime using her status as a public figure to speak out about systemic injustice.

As a queer, gender-nonconforming woman myself, Marsha P. Johnson’s

work for LGBTQ+ rights has inspired the activism I do within my own community for years. Whether it be organizing Pride centered book displays at the library I volunteered at, or participating in my school’s Gender Sexuality Alliance Club I’ve refused to let that same drive for equality Johnson held burn out.