STAR House

STAR House, founded in 1970 by Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, was modeled on house culture, a form of mutual care in trans communities of color since at least the 1890s. Rivera, a Latinx trans woman known for outspoken protests for gay and trans rights, and Johnson provided food and housing there for more than a year, creating a safer and more welcoming space for trans people than traditional shelters often offered and establishing a model for support within the TLGBQ+ community. STAR also developed an activist branch in 1970 during a five-day protest at New York University after the University's Gay Liberation Activist Group had hosted dance-a-thons at Weinstein Residence Hall, the school canceled the remaining events, and further gay social organizing was banned. In response, Johnson, Rivera, gay students, and later straight allies occupied the sub-basement of Weinstein Hall for days, then led a march to Sheridan Square, where STAR was born. Its existence apart from groups such as the Gay Liberation Front and Gay Activist Alliance reflected the broader struggle for trans inclusion within the gay rights movement. Now known as STARR, the Strategic Alliance for Radical Reform, and led by Mariah Lopez, the organization continues Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson's legacy through health care, legal and police reform, direct advocacy, and the provision of housing, food, and support for transgender and gender non-conforming people across the United States, including the Deep South. Rooted in the Civil Rights Movement, its work at times overlapped with the Young Lords, Black Panthers, and other activist groups.

New York, New York · United States