Acción Travesti Callejera Revolucionaria (S.T.A.R.). Supervivencia, revuelta y lucha trans antagonista.

by Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Peligrosidad social (translator)

Después del 45 aniversario de la Revuelta de Stonewall Inn, tenemos en castellano quizás uno de los mejores trabajos sobre autoorganización y revolución queer y transfeminista: la historia de S.T.A.R. contada por dos de sus protagonistas, Marsha P. Johnson y Sylvia Rivera. La portada de este libro inmortaliza su presencia en una concentración frente al ayuntamiento neoyorkino por la ordenanza antidiscriminatoria a inicios de los 60.

S.T.A.R. «Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries», puede traducirse como «Acción de Travestis Callejeras Revolucionarias». Este acrónimo significa «estrella», palabra que era un icono gay como recordada por los Panteras Negras por ser la Estrella de Norte referente para los esclavos negros que se fugaban de sus amos, aunque desconocemos por qué lo eligieron.

Fueron un referente para su época y las posteriores. Levantaron desde la miseria económica y social en la que se criaron un proyecto revolucionario de apoyo mutuo entre disidentes sexuales jamás visto en tal proporción en nuestra historia reciente. Sin estudios, sin dinero, sin trabajo estable y sin comodidades, siendo su campo de prácticas la calle y punto. Aquí gozamos de varios de sus textos, el último del orgullo gay de 2001. Casi diez años antes Marsha había sido hallada flotando en el río Hudson, y casi en el décimo aniversario del fallecimiento de su amiga, Sylvia moría a los 51 años debido a un hígado demacrado por las drogas y diagnosticado de cáncer.

En 2005 el progresista ayuntamiento neoyorkino, en un auténtico lavado de imagen dio su nombre a una de las calles de Greenwich Village, donde años antes Sylvia lanzaba un cóctel molotov contra la policía municipal que acosaba a las mariconas de Stonewall. La represión permanece en la ciudad, pero le toca camuflarse y cambiar con los nuevos tiempos de integración.
Este libro va dedicado a estas dos grandes personas, y a quienes siguen luchando bajo unos similares preceptos de auto-organización, apoyo mutuo y disidencia sexual. Recomendamos leerlo detenidamente. Las negras tormentas de sexofobia y violencia política que se avecinan lo convertirán en una útil herramienta para nuestra supervivencia.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer, History, Transgender, Feminism, Politics

138 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Sylvia Rivera (July 2, 1951 – February 19, 2002) was an American gay liberation and transgender activist of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan descent. Rivera was also a noted community worker in New York, and active in the Gay Liberation Front, Gay Activist Alliance and Young Lords.

With close friend Marsha P. Johnson, Rivera co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a group dedicated to helping homeless young drag queens, gay youth, and trans women.

Reviews

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Algunas de las luchas, por desgracia, siguen tan vigentes hoy como hace tantos años.-
Género. Ensayo.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Acción Travesti Callejera Revolucionaria (publicación original: Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries STAR. Survival, Revolt and Queer Antagonist Struggle, 2013), con el subtítulo Supervivencia, revuelta y lucha trans antagonistas, ofrece discursos, entrevistas y ensayos de/sobre las autoras, mujeres transexuales activistas, defensoras de los derechos LGBT, protagonistas de los disturbios de Stonewall y trabajadoras comunitarias.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Quiero más anotaciones! ¡Más contexto histórico! ¡Más notas de la traductora! ¡Más introducción a la etapa queer! Quiero MÁS. Necesitamos esta historia, esta genealogía, que es el oxígeno en nuestro aire.

[cameron]

picked up this zine of Sylvia Rivera essays at a demo i went to, and wow. I haven’t read a lot of her actual interviews and statements before this and it is such an incredible piece of history to have. She discusses how the mainstream gay rights movement has left out transgender people, even though they along with street kids have been the ones on the front lines of every accomplishment. Even if you don’t get this specific zine, i would urge everyone to read into her interviews and speeches. although the editor of this books introduction i did not like and seemed unnecessary to add their nihilist opinions on queer liberation but we move

[Devin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first ever official collection of Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson's writings! Not a total collection, I am sure, but there are interviews and essays in here with both of them I have never seen before. Transgender liberation (though the editor of this collection scoffs and criticizes that notion, rooting it in "academia") began with these women, among other trans women, from a socialist, Third World, anti-imperialist perspective, regardless of if you want to believe that or not.

History of queer/trans liberation is often whitewashed; it goes like this: Stonewall, /maybe/ a mention of Anita Bryant, Harvey Milk, HIV/AIDS, Matthew Shepard, Gay Marriage. Fin. That's all. And hardly any context or history is given to these events. And if you have ever asked yourself: "why?" Then read Sylvia and Marsha's words here, because it started with their being pushed out of the early Gay Liberation Movement by petty-bourgeois white gays. The same ones who still actively dismiss and push transgender people out of the movement today, 50 years later. The struggle continues.

Almost deducted a star because of the editor of this book and their opening introduction -- not ALWAYS, but often, I find myself rolling my eyes at anarchist takes on queer/trans liberation, especially from the perspective of nihilism and academia. I DID roll my eyes at their description of Leninism as a "purist religion" comparable to catholicism. How unnecessary and unrelated to anything else in this otherwise incredible text.

[phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic to read the writings and speeches of the wonderful women of STAR. the intro wasn’t my fav as its very anarchist and claims leninism is a ‘cult’, seems very reactionary and ahistorical! but the actual writings and speeches of sylvia and marsha were enlightening. it’s so sad that their message of getting vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth off the streets has been sanitised. do not twist their lives. they did not want their loved ones or themselves in prostitution. they wanted safety, shelter and resources!

i feel privileged to have been able to read their stories in their own words.

“Before I die, I will see our community given the respect we deserve. I’ll be damned if I’m going to my grave without having the respect this community deserves. I want to go to wherever I go with that in my soul and peacefully say I’ve finally overcome.”

this broke my heart. if she saw where we are now with the anti trans ideology that is so pervasive on the left, i’m sure she would be heartbroken. we have to keep fighting, not only for the lives and liberation of our LGBTQ+ siblings still here, but for our siblings who have passed on, and passed the torch to us.

[Marea sdp · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Testimonios y vidas como las de Marsha y Sylvia merecen ser recordados y homenajeados hasta la saciedad en cualquier rincón del mundo en el que una persona oprimida por las normas sexuales homófobicas y transfóbicas de su comunidad, se rebele y prefiera vivir al margen sin pasar por el aro.» (151)

Ha sido precioso conocer a Sylvia y a Marsha y la iniciativa STAR ❤️

[anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Mainstreaming, normality, being normal. I understand how much everybody likes to fit into that mainstream gay and lesbian community. You know, it used to be a wonderful thing to be avant-garde, to be different from the world. I see us reverting into a so-called liberated closet because we, not we, yous of this mainstream community, wish to be married, wish for this status. That’s all fine. But you are forgetting your grass roots, you are forgetting your own individual identity. I mean, you can never be like them. Yes we can adopt children, all well and good, that’s fine. I would love to have children. I would love to marry my lover over there [Julia Murray], but for political reasons I will not do it because I don’t feel that I have to fit into that closet of normal, straight society which the gay mainstream is always going towards."

[e☆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"RIVERA: I wanted to do every destructive thing that I could think of at that
time to hurt anyone that had hurt us through the years.
RIVERA: A lot of heads were bashed. But it didn’t hurt their true feelings —
they all came back for more and more. Nothing — that’s when you could tell
that nothing could stop us at that time or any time in the future."

definitely a must-read especially during pride month

edit: forgot to add that I kind of read some parts of the prologue more critically and focused more on Sylvia and Marsha's work

[Darío · Rating 4 out of 5]

El prólogo no está tan bien pero el resto de textos vale mucho la pena

[Adrián Ciutat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goosebumps.

[Caroline Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for the content, not the intro! I am so annoyed when the politics of socialists and communists are erased as if they’re secondary to the person or organization’s achievements and not absolutely central to them. STAR was a revolutionary socialist organization! I am going to quote my comrade and husband because I couldn’t say it better:

“STAR was explicitly revolutionary and socialist and demanded a “revolutionary peoples’ government” in their manifesto.

Gay Liberation Front (GLF) had a more broad membership but definitely had socialist/communist members involved.

The Young Lords were Marxist-Leninist for the majority of their existence and then a large portion of their membership morphed into the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Workers Organization, a communist party-building org. Other members of the Young Lords went on to be in some other Communist orgs in the 70’s and 80’s too.”

Sylvia specifically said she was a part of the Young Lords and proud to be! Why didn’t this collection of writings include the manifesto that spells out STAR’s position?

Now, Ehn Nothing in the intro says the following: “recovering our history from obscurity and recuperation is a necessary element of struggle. If we do not critically engage this history, we not only lose analytical tools that could aid the spread and sharpening of our revolt, but also abandon the dead to vultures who reduce everything to image and commodity.” (p. 10)

So, Nothing, stop erasing history!

Here are some of my favorite quotes on the subject of street prostitution, especially for the sex-trade expansionary feminists:

“…everybody thinks that we want to be out on them street corners. No we do not. We don’t want to be out there sucking d*** and getting f***** up the a**. But that’s the only alternative that we have to survive because the laws do not give us the right to go and get a job the way we feel comfortable. I do not want to go to work looking like a man when I know I am not a man. I have been this way since before I left home and I have been on my own since the age of ten.” - Sylvia Rivera, “Bitch on Wheels”

“The street queens have always been prostitutes to survive, because some of us left home so early, or it just wasn’t feasible to be working if you wanted to wear your makeup and do your thing.”

“A lot of trans women are standing out on street corners and working clubs. And many of them are highly educated, with college degrees. Many of us have to survive by selling our bodies. If you can’t get a job, you have to do whatever it takes to live.”
- Sylvia Rivera, “Queens in Exile: The Forgotten Ones”

…

“Octavia St. Laurent said it last year at Amanda’s funeral: “Men have rights, women have rights, children have rights, gays have rights, lesbians have rights, animals have rights...we ain’t got shit.”

[F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess it might be because I'm used to reading in English, but I found the translation not as smooth as I would have expected. However, this is an essential read for anybody, queer or not. It is the real history of how the Pride movement came into being. The legacy of the people who, coming from nothing, gave their lives to a cause, a cause that was benefited from their hard work and then deserted them.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

this year was my first pride. i went to a corporate pride event at a booked-out wine bar, looked on from the sidewalk at the rainbow corporate floats throwing out branded drawstring backpacks, and then spent an hour or two at a get-together hosted at a cishet white guy's backyard with a couple more cis, mostly white, middle- to upper-class gays and straights who talked some more about their corporate jobs.

it was only after june was over that i really learned about queer history. i'd known of marsha p. johnson, but, and as ashamed as i am to say, i'd never heard of sylvia rivera. within a couple of days, everything i was learning from -- all the articles, the blog posts, the documentaries, the videos, the work -- she was there. disembodied quotes from her speeches, footage of her encampment by the hudson river, interviews remembering marsha, and clips from her infamous 1973 address following the betrayal of trans protections by assimilationist gays the likes of jean o’leary.

i find it difficult to put into words just how integral poor trans woc are to the gayness we enjoy. my first instinct is to say something sweeping and sentimental, that vulnerable trans sex workers of color, the street queens, are the real and true heart of pride, but it remains that we aren't proud of them and have treated them like shit. we're proud of what they've done to help our cause as gays, but that pride isn't extended to protecting and loving them the way we pride ourselves on our status as marginally-closer-to-acceptable-but-still-special. a status granted to us by the legislation fought for by the very same trans woc and trans sex workers that we excluded from it in hopes that it would get us -- just us -- there sooner.

the way sylvia puts it: "mainstreaming, normality, being normal. i understand how much everybody likes to fit into that mainstream gay and lesbian community. you know, it used to be a wonderful thing to be avant-garde, to be different from the world. i see us reverting into a so-called liberated closet because we, not we, yous of this mainstream community, wish to be married, wish for this status. that’s all fine. but you are forgetting your grass roots, you are forgetting your own individual identity. I mean, you can never be like them."

sylvia rivera is the source. her writings and her words, scattered across various academic and literary and film reflections, collected here into this zine, are the foremost authority on understanding queer liberation and our complicity as gays in deterring it. i think anyone who is gay and cis, who can go home at night after a long day at work, who one day wants to get married and have children and own a place of their own or already has those things, anyone who feels pride in their queerness, needs to read this (despite a rather unnecessary introduction that, funnily enough, conflates leninists with catholic religious purists).

i see a lot of people repeat this phrase: the first pride was a riot. usually, it comes with the one picture of marsha beaming in her flower crown. in her own words: "i’d like to see a gay revolution get started, but there hasn’t been any demonstration or anything recently. you know how the straight people are. when they don’t see any action they think, 'well, gays are all forgotten now, they’re worn out, they’re tired.'" let it not be just the first pride, but every pride that we fight for queer liberation for all!

[Kyomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un texto que le compartí a mis amiguitas

Es emocionante leer sobre nuestra historia, sobre quienes fueron las que empujaron la revolución, gracias a quienes hoy en día puedo ser camiona sin irme presa, sin ser perseguida, tengo una profesión, tengo oportunidades. Quizás no es perfecto y quizás aún tengo miedo, y pucha que falta también para toda nuestra comunidad LGBT. Pero qué orgullo más grande es nuestra historia y pertenecer a ella, de cierta forma.
Gracias Sylvia Rivera, gracias Marsha P. Johnson, gracias S.T.A.R, gracias comunidad trans/travesti

[Reckless Serenade · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Si estáis listas para hablar a la gente de que queréis ser libres, entonces estáis listas para luchar.»

Hace poco vi el documental "The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson" que salió en netflix el pasado octubre. Me gustó mucho porque aparte de contarte lo maravillosa que fue Marsha, hablan sobre los disturbios de Stonewall y lo que significó. Este libro ha sido complementario para mí con ese documental.

Pero creo que hubiese sido muy interesante añadir más testimonios de otras mujeres transexuales y queer que vivieron lo sucedido en Stonewall.

[M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compendio random de artículos, entrevistas y fotografías en torno al colectivo STAR y las figuras de Sylvia Rivera y Marsha P. Johnson. Destaco solamente las entrevistas a Sylvia, que fueron lo que me motivó a leer el libro (el resto son artículos tocando el tema principal de la obra desde una perspectiva anarquista que para mí no revisten interés).

En las entrevistas a Sylvia se ve la crueldad y la dureza de una vida de disidencia, pobreza extrema, abusos policiales y prostitución forzada. Pero no todo es negro. Dentro de toda la mierda, ella y Marsha se erigen como auténticas figuras de vanguardia del movimiento LGTB posterior a Stonewall, acogiendo y ayudando a otras chavalas trans marginadas por la sociedad exactamente igual que ellas. Su principio era solo uno, pero uno muy claro: que a las personas transgénero se las tratase como lo que son, ante todo personas; y que tuviesen exactamente los mismos derechos que gays, lesbianas o bisexuales.

Sylvia no deja títere sin cabeza y con razón: sus entrevistas están llenas de crítica a los cuerpos policiales, a las figuras gays oficialistas, a quienes parecían ser sus amigas pero le dieron la espalda en momentos clave; pero también de un amor bellísimo hacia Marsha, su pareja Julia y todas esas mujeres trans con las que peleó codo con codo. Sylvia y Marsha fueron vanguardia revolucionaria dentro de la escena transgénero de su época y a día de hoy un ejemplo histórico que no podemos dejar perder.

[Adri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutamente obsesionado con la fuerza de Sylvia en el discurso del orgullo del 73 (https://youtu.be/r0YIUm2s92k?si=e6OqC...), y es muy fuerte cómo a día de hoy, más de 50 años más tarde, sus palabras todavía siguen vigentes, con el desprecio/indiferencia de muchos compañeros del "colectivo LGTB" ante la discriminación y violencia que sufren nuestras hermanas trans. En sus propias palabras: REVOLUTION NOWWW ❤‍🔥.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

honestly, if you are LGBT+ this should be required reading (it's not long at all)
it's amazing what Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson fought for and had to do against great odds
i feel like if you need to read one, at least read Sylvia Rivera's "Queens in Exile, the Forgotten Ones" which is the final interview in the collection

[Esther Martínez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resulta desolador salir de la lectura con peor sabor de boca hoy que cuando lo leí en 2019. La deriva anti-trans mata (personas y derechos).

La edición resulta un poco repetitiva pero al menos incide y deja bien claro cuál es el rumbo que se debe tomar: auto-organización y apoyo mutuo frente a la búsqueda de inclusión en el patriarcado capitalista y supremacista blanco.

[Avery · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible primer on the revolutionary works of STAR, without the biases of white/capitalist queer assimilationism, this zine is a must-read for anyone who claims to be a "radical queer" fighting for queer liberation.

[Saturniidead ★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Content warnings are listed at the end of my review! Available to read for free online from Untorelli Press.

3.5 Both Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson have become immortalized in the history of queer liberation, but rarely are their words used, their wide breadth of activism acknowledged, or the complexity of their lives remembered. This small archive of Sylvia's words with an additional interview with Marsha provides us a real look into the minds of these foundational activists. It opens with an essay from Ehn Nothing, which is less accessibly read as the rest of this collection, as it is wrapped up in political analysis of STAR and the attempts of understanding it from an outside lens. The essay lays out many examples of how fragments of Marsha and Sylvia's stories are taken to wield them out of context for political debate, erasing their complex and human stories and ignoring the violence they faced from mainstream movements. STAR was radical intersectional grassroots mutual aid for survival. It spits in the face of those who reject this history, condemning assimilationists who put their feet up after marriage equality, and those who claim to be "radical queers" who celebrate our gritty past but scorn any modern blood sweat and tears put into tough advocacy.

Then, we get into Sylvia's words. A lot of the stories come back to retelling the same thing again, especially Sonewall, which Rivera's involvement which has more evidence against it being true than evidence of it happening. So reading her alleged accounts of that night and the following nights with this knowledge in mind feels incredibly strange. Stonewall aside, I really think her talking about her other unapologetic intersectional activism, mutual aid work, and her accounts of the political climate at the time is priceless queer history to be able to read. Her perspective alone as a poor gender variant queen who is Puerto Rican-Venezuelan and is in survival sex work is immeasurably valuable, showing the intense intersections of her identities and how that impacted her beliefs and methods as an activist. She shows us segregation in prisons with queer inmates, how queens banded together to mutually survive, how the gay liberation movement utilized gender variant activists for their advocacy but ignored giving them credit or help in return.

“The only reason they tolerated the transgender community in some of these movements was because we were gung-ho, we were front liners. We didn’t take no shit from nobody. We had nothing to lose. You all had rights. We had nothing to lose. I’ll be the first one to step on any organization, any politician’s toes if I have to, to get the rights for my community.” ― Sylvia Rivera

Her words and experiences are loud, and often her remarks on the intolerance towards gender diverse and trans people being left by the wayside with mainstream activism rings painfully true. It aches watching her grow weary and bitter towards activism and community after the violent backlash she experienced from ex-comrades now-radfems when trying to speak at pride. You can't blame her, feeling isolated and unsafe, even feeling wary being in the trans community or label as it gained more mainstream attention, which is why I chose to respect her feelings and not label her in this way. Her relationship with transness and the term is incredibly complex, and it's sadly fascinating how even in her time, a version of transmedicalism existed that made her feel overlooked for not wanting any gender affirming surgeries. It was nice to see her able to bring STAR back in a way in her later life, but trans activism didn't reach the point she hoped for in her lifetime.

Summary:
Readability: ★★★☆☆, Pretty conversational aside from the introduction, but it's a tough subject matter, though worth reading through especially to understand our historical roots. It's a short read but Rivera talks a lot about the same things without adding any new perspective or context that wasn't already established, so some editorial work could have aided it in being more concise.

Entertainment: ★★★★☆, Like any trans history, I feel such a strong kinship and respect while reading about those who came before us, and this is no different. Rivera is a complex figure, and a crucial path-paver for early queer liberation. Hearing her story is essential context to the whole picture of queer history and activism.

Audience: Queer people in general, especially those who want to understand the historical context of Stonewall and who Rivera and Johnson are besides pride month infographic portraits. You really learn fascinating things about how different some things are, and also how some things still haven't changed. I recommend reading.

Content Warnings: animal death, anxiety, arrests, attempted murder, bullying, death, drugs, gun violence, homophobia, incest, jail, knives, pedophilia, police, poverty, racism, riots, slurs, suicide, survival sex work

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of writings sheds light on many things: The bleak conditions trans people suffered in the 60s-70s to present, the revolutionary actions of STAR, perspective on the Stonewall Riot, street life in New York, and more... Mostly through the perspective of Sylvia Rivera (with one essay from Marsha P. Johnson), these writings helped me to contextualize parts of the continued struggle for trans rights-and queer rights a whole-that exists today. An enjoyable, and humanizing starting place for reading into queer history!

[Carito Ramírez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una antologia esencial!

[Claudio Oliva Sotomayor · Rating 5 out of 5]

En breve. La mayoría de los asuntos que tocan los textos reunidos en el libro son de una actualidad inmensa, especialmente en el “asimilacionismo” que puede vincularse con el contexto electoral de diciembre de 2021 en Chile. Excelente libro y, además, una edición preciosa.

[Paco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro nos cuenta la historia de STAR —un grupo político radical conformado por personas trans racializadas de clase baja que estuvo en activo durante las últimas décadas del siglo XX y los primeros años del XXI— a través de los pensamientos e ideas de sus fundadoras: Marsha P. Johnson y Sylvia Rivera.
Por medio de una serie de discursos y entrevistas de estas dos mujeres, el lector se adentra poco a poco en sus mentes y en sus vidas, las cuales estuvieron tristemente determinadas por la opresión que sufrieron. Tanto Marsha como Sylvia —así como todas sus compañeras— vieron su identidad y sus derechos negados por ser negras, pobres y trans, algo que las obligó a sobrevivir en un entorno sumamente hostil y a convertir la prostitución y el tráfico de drogas en sus únicas fuentes de ingresos. A pesar de lo adverso de las circunstancias que las envolvían, estas mujeres no se rindieron: consiguieron tejer una red de solidaridad y apoyo mutuo para todas aquellas que se encontraban en su misma situación e hicieron de su existencia una lucha constante contra el sistema capitalista y heteropatriarcal imperante.
Aunque el libro pide a gritos una reedición con la que se eliminen varias erratas y se corrijan algunos errores de traducción, eso no supone impedimento alguno para que el mensaje que en él se recoge —que continúa siendo de imperiosa necesidad, por cierto— cale de lleno en los lectores. Y es que, en ocasiones, la historia de personas como Marsha y Sylvia parece olvidarse o desconocerse, y más aún en un momento como este, en el que la lucha LGTBIQ+ parece tener mayor cabida en los medios de comunicación cuando son individuos (en su mayoría hombres) blancos, de clase media o alta y con una ideología asimilacionista los que la representan. No podemos dejar que el importante papel que racializados, pobres y marginados desempeñaron en nuestro colectivo caiga en el olvido; esta lucha ha de ser transversal y debe perseguir la deconstrucción total del heteropatriarcado en el que vivimos. Si hacemos que el fin de este movimiento no sea otro más que la búsqueda de cobijo dentro de dicho sistema —especialmente para aquellos que más se adecuan a sus valores— mientras que los que pueblan los márgenes de la sociedad siguen ninguneados, el espíritu con el que esta lucha nació se diluirá y las acciones llevadas a cabo por Sylvia, Marsha y todas las demás no habrían tenido sentido alguno.

[Anusha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sylvia and Marsha have become icons of queer culture and due to this, their images and names are often used to represent ideas that don't represent them well. This book cleared up a lot of those misconceptions. Accessible language, amazing points and their organization model is really something that more people from marginalized communities can learn from. How Marsha passed away was so unfair and heart-wrenching, she really deserved better. I'm glad her legacy lives on. Wasn't the biggest fan of the intro by the academic writer who tried to project anarchism onto STAR but the compilation of Sylvia and Marsha's words was worth it

[Marina Coco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adolece de una muy mala traducción y de una introducción francamente chirriante, pero sigue siendo un básico.

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking terfs. Jean O'Leary how deep from grace you've fallen

[Bernarda Araya · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Hemos perdido nuestros trabajos, nuestros hogares, amigxs y familia por la falta de comprensión de nuestros sentimientos más íntimos y la falta de conocimiento de nuestro estilo de vida válido. Les ha lavado el cerebro este jodido sistema que nos ha condenado y los doctores que nos trataron como una enfermedad y un montón de bichos raros. Nuestras familias y amigxs también nos han condenado por su falta de verdadero conocimiento.”

(Pág. 55-56)

A través de una recopilación de entrevistas, discursos, ensayos y algunas declaraciones, en Travestis callejeras de acción revolucionaria conocemos la historia de los inicios de la revolución queer, la cual comenzó con la participación de las activistas Sylvia Rivera y Marsha P. Johnson. Nos hablan de las principales dificultades a las que tanto mujeres trans como travestis se enfrentan hasta el día de hoy y también cómo lidiaron con el prejuicio dentro de la misma comunidad queer a la cual no se sentían completamente pertenecientes.

Para mí, haber leído este libro fue muy informativo y doloroso al mismo tiempo. Saber que existió en la época de los años 70 este odio tan grande hacia una comunidad tan pequeña, se me hace incomprensible. Por más que el libro hable de la historia real de cómo sucedió una revolución muy importante para la comunidad LGBTIQ+, no pude evitar pensar que esa lucha es algo que aún ocurre en la actualidad y es por eso que en muchas ocasiones sentí pena.

Me encantó el realismo de cada palabra dicha por Sylvia y también destaco cuánto me gustó lo crudo de sus palabras al hablar sobre sus vivencias y las de muchas otras personas pertenecientes a este círculo. Creo que es muy importante que en este tipo de escrituras exista el sin filtro, lo cual estuvo dentro de este libro.

Por otro lado, como leí la versión traducida al español, debo mencionar que no me gustó la elección de traducción no binaria escrita en este libro. Digo esto desde el punto de vista como traductora que estudió sobre la traducción no binaria y la verdad fue súper incómodo tratar de leer de corrido el libro por el uso de la x como alternativa de no binarismo. Es algo que es importante para mí mencionar porque de alguna forma arruinó un poco mi experiencia de lectura. Esta es mi razón principal por la que le bajé puntos a mi calificación final.

En resumen, el contenido principal de este libro es muy interesante e informativo. Considero que es esencial tener el conocimiento de este tipo de historias y espero que muchas otras personas tengan el mismo interés que yo cuando lo escogí. Si eres una persona interesada en aprender sobre la historia queer de forma sencilla y corta, este puede ser un buen inicio para ti.

3.8*/5*

[Carlos Puig · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries» puede traducirse como «Acción de Travestis Callejeras Revolucionarias» y fue una organización referente para su época. Desde la miseria económica y social en la que se criaron levantaron un proyecto revolucionario de apoyo mutuo entre disidentes sexuales jamás visto en tal proporción en nuestra historia reciente. Sin estudios, sin dinero, sin trabajo estable y sin comodidades, siendo su zona de prácticas la calle y punto". (Del Prólogo)

Este libro recopila proclamas, discursos y entrevistas de las dos activistas más relevantes de la agrupación STAR, nacida en NY, USA, al fragor de la lucha por los derechos de las disidencias sexogenéricas en los años 70.

Los testimonios de las protagonistas permiten recuperar la memoria de una lucha que siempre ha tenido todo en contra, incluyendo el rechazo o la indiferencia de ciertos sectores de las propias disidencias a la comunidad transgénero y transexual.

Lo poco que se ha podido avanzar en ciertos paises puede perderse con la llegada al poder de reaccionarios que niegan la existencia de las personas trans y quieren imponer por decreto un mundo hereronormado, represivo y excluyente, que solamente existe en sus mentes carcelarias.

Este libro es una fuente de inspiración y de memoria histórica. Resistencia, lucha y organización. Ni un paso atrás.