Stormé DeLarverie (December 24, 1920 – May 24, 2014)

Storme DeLarverie, a New Orleans Louisiana native, born in 1920 to a black mom and a white father. As a biracial lesbian, she confronted more than her share of adversity. She commenced singing in jazz clubs at 18 and moved to Chicago, the place her singing career really began.

In 1950s and 60s,  DeLarverie was part of a travelling drag show. In "The Jewel Box Revue,"  she performed as a male impersonator. Then Stormé performed at places like Radio City Music Hall and the Apollo Theatre. She used to be a major pioneer for androgynous, gender non-conforming fashion for women.

From the 80s via the 1990s,DeLarverie work as a singer and a bouncer. She lived at the well-known Hotel Chelsea, and persisted her vigilance against anti-gay and anti-black prejudice.

She was one of the fifty inaugural names positioned on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument. She’s been dubbed “the Rosa Parks of the gay community.” 

Stonewall Inn:

The Stonewall Inn was one of New York’s last standing gay bar mafia and a refuge for the LGBTQ+ community

 in Greenwich Village.

Stormé was once concerned in forming the Stonewall Veterans Association and used to be later elected vice president. 

The First Punch:

DeLarverie known for possibly throwing the first punch at Stonewall. 

On June 28, 1969, a regular Saturday morning,Stormé was enjoying herself, drinking and socializing with friends at Stonewall.

The bar was once raided through New York police. Police dragged out bar tenders. Out in the street, an officer cracked DeLarverie over the head. She threw the first punch at the rebel when an officer clubbed her in the face with his nightstick. DeLarverie combat again in opposition to the police was once the spark that bought the crowd to assault the police. 

Although there is no proof DeLaverie threw the first punch, she genuinely claimed to have performed so.

Fight For Rights:

After Stonewall, DeLarverie stayed energetic in gay rights causes in New York and served the lesbian community for decades as a volunteer street patrol worker. She was once known as the Sheriff of Greenwich Village. She’d take care of adolescents and home abuse victims, gathering funds and organizing advantages to help charities. 

Stormé worked as a bouncer in Henrietta Hudson lesbian bar of her friend Lisa Cannistraci till she was 85 years old.

In her closing years, DeLarverie used to be cared for in a Brooklyn nursing home, where she died with a heart attack on Saturday at age 93 on May 24, 2014.