Stormé DeLarverie
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Stormé DeLarverie (abt. 1920 - 2014)

Stormé DeLarverie
Born about in New Orleans, Louisiana, United Statesmap
Daughter of [father unknown] and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died at about age 93 in Brooklyn, New York, United Statesmap
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Profile last modified | Created 6 Jul 2020
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Biography

Stormé DeLarverie (December 24, 1920 – May 24, 2014) was a gay civil rights activist and cross-dressing entertainer who performed and hosted at the Apollo Theater and Radio City Music Hall. In June of 1969 she fought back when police clubbed her during a routine bar raid on homosexuals, lighting a spark that helped ignite the Stonewall Uprising, the watershed six-day series of protests that electrified the gay liberation movement and the twentieth-century fight for LGBT+ rights in the United States, commemorated by Gay Pride Week.[1]
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Stormé DeLarverie is Notable.

Asked about the Stonewall "Riots," she said,

It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience – it wasn't no damn riot.[2][3]

Called by some "the Rosa Parks of the gay community,"[4][5][6] she was born in New Orleans in 1920 (the exact date uncertain even to her-- she celebrated it on December 24)[7] to an African American mother and a white father, said to have been her mother's wealthy employer.[8][9] Their names have not yet been found.

She came to New York, and from 1955 to 1969 toured the black theater circuit with the "Jewel Box Revue," a racially integrated drag show[10][11] that regularly played the Apollo Theater in Harlem,[12] performing as a baritone.[13] As a singer, her unprecedented style and "subversive performances" became celebrated and influential.[14][15] In 1987 Michelle Parkerson released the short film, Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box, about DeLarverie and her time with the revue.[16] She could pass as either a man or a woman, Black or white, and, photographed in stylish "men's wear" by artist Diane Arbus[17][18] she inspired other lesbians to adopt "men's" clothing as street wear,[19] and is now considered to have been a fashion influencer.[14][15]

She had a long-term partner, a dancer named Diana, who died in the 1970s.[20] She had no children.

From Wikipedia:

In June 2019, DeLarvarie was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City's Stonewall Inn. [21][22] The SNM is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history, [23] and the wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.[24]
DeLarverie suffered from dementia in her later years.[8][11] From 2010 to 2014, she lived in a nursing home in Brooklyn.[9]
On June 7, 2012, Brooklyn Pride, Inc. honored Stormé DeLarverie at the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. Michelle Parkerson's film, Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box, was screened. On April 24, 2014, DeLarverie was honored alongside Edith Windsor by the Brooklyn Community Pride Center,[25] "for her fearlessness and bravery," and was also presented with a proclamation from New York City Public Advocate, Letitia James.[26]
She died in her sleep on May 24, 2014, in Brooklyn, New York.[8][9] No immediate family members were alive at her time of death. [9] Lisa Cannistraci, who became one of DeLarverie's legal guardians, stated that the cause of death was a heart attack.[9][27][28][29]

Sources

  1. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Stonewall riots," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stonewall_riots&oldid=1103497029 (accessed August 12, 2022).
  2. ↑ Kristi K, "Something Like A Super Lesbian: Stormé DeLarverie (In Memoriam)," thekword.com, (May 28, 2014).
  3. ↑ “K. Stormé, Stormé DeLarverie," STONEWALL Veterans' Association.
  4. ↑ James Luce, "Gay Community's Rosa Parks Faces Death, Impoverished and Alone," Huffington Post, (07/12/2010)
  5. ↑ Graham Gremore, "Stormé DeLarverie, 'Rosa Parks' of the Gay Rights Movement, Dies at 93," Queerty, (May 27, 2014).
  6. ↑ henriettahudson.com, "Stormé DeLarverie – the gay community's 'Rosa Parks' – to be honored this Thursday at the 2014 Founders' Ball," (April 24, 2014)
  7. ↑ "United States Public Records, 1970-2009", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:2:9M2N-NLYR : 11 November 2019), Entry for Storme Delarverie, 2009.
    Previous Residence Manhattan, New York 10011
    Second Previous Residence Place Manhattan, New York 10011
    Third Previous Residence Place New York, New York 10011
    Residence Date 1 Jan 2009
    Residence Place Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
    Residence Place (Original) Manhattan, New York, United States
    Birth Date 24 Dec 1920
    Event Type Residence
    Household Identifier 273429945
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Grace Chu, "From the Archives: An interview with lesbian Stonewall veteran Stormé DeLarverie," AfterEllen.com (July 26, 2010).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 William Yardley, "Storme DeLarverie, Early Leader in the Gay Rights Movement, Dies at 93," New York Times.
  10. ↑ Women Make Movies.com, Storme The Lady of the Jewel Box, n.d.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Deepti Hajela, Associated Press, sandiegouniontribune.com."Stonewall activist Storme DeLarverie dies at 93"
  12. ↑ Manny Fernandez, "A Stonewall Veteran, 89, Misses the Parade," The New York Times, June 27, 2010).
  13. ↑ Robert West, ["Stormé DeLarverie: In a Storm of Indifference, She's Still a Jewel," (HuffPost, March 26, 2013).
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Robert West, "Stormé DeLarverie: In a Storm of Indifference, She's Still a Jewel," HuffPost, (March 26, 2013).
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Vocativ, "Long Live the Legacy of Storme DeLarverie," (June 27, 2014).
  16. ↑ Women Make Movies.com, Storme The Lady of the Jewel Box, n.d.
  17. ↑ Manny Fernandez, "A Stonewall Veteran, 89, Misses the Parade," The New York Times, (June 27, 2010).
  18. ↑ Erin M. Drinkwater, "Remembering Storme DeLarverie," GO, (June 14, 2014).
  19. ↑ Trish Bendix, "Stormé DeLarverie passes away, the community loses a legend," gaystarnews.com, (May 27, 2014).
  20. ↑ Elyssa Goodman, "A Drag King's Journey From Cabaret Legend to Iconic Activist," them, (March 29, 2018).Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  21. ↑ Becca Glasses-Baker, "National LGBTQ Wall of Honor unveiled at Stonewall Inn," metro.us, (June 27, 2019).
  22. ↑ Timothy Rawles, Community Editor for SDGLN,"National LGBTQ Wall of Honor to be unveiled at historic Stonewall Inn," San Diego Gay and Lesbian News, (June 19, 2019).
  23. ↑ "Groups seek names for Stonewall 50 honor wall," The Bay Area Reporter / B.A.R. Inc.
  24. ↑ "Stonewall 50," San Francisco Bay Times, April 3, 2019.
  25. ↑ "Stormé DeLarverie – the gay community's "Rosa Parks" – to be honored this Thursday at the 2014 Founders' Ball". henriettahudson.com. April 24, 2014. [1]
  26. ↑ Andrew Potts, "Stonewall Riots veteran Storme DeLarverie dies at 93," gaystarnews.com, (May 28, 2014).
  27. ↑ "Stonewall Veteran, Drag King Icon Stormé DeLarverie Dies at 93," (May 27, 2014)
  28. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #199416733
  29. ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Stormé DeLarverie," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Storm%C3%A9_DeLarverie&oldid=1096175067 (accessed August 12, 2022).

See also:

  • They Don't Say Our Names Enough: Looking back at the life of Storme DeLarverie — a Black butch woman who didn't pull any punches when it came to protecting her community from violence
  • George Goethals, Encyclopedia of Leadership, Vol. 1, (Thousand Oaks: Berkshire Publishing Group LLC, 2004) p. 1494.




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