STORME DELARVERIE (1920-2014)
Stormé DeLarverie was a singer, drag performer and emcee, bouncer, and LGBTQ+ activist. She is also believed to have had a role in starting the Stonewall Uprising.
Stormé DeLarverie was born in New Orleans to a Black mother and a white father. Because she was a “mixed race child” in Louisiana, she was never issued a birth certificate, so the exact date of her birth is unknown.
DeLarverie states that she never met her biological parents and was taken in by foster family. The family is reported to have moved to Nebraska in the 1930s.
As a biracial woman, Stormé was a target of bullying and violence from both Black and white children growing up. And as someone who was likely non-binary, Stormé was also the victim of homophobic violence.
DeLarverie‘s vocal talents were evident early on, with several newspapers mentioning her for solos she sang at church, in school concerns, and at local events.
DeLarverie found her way to NYC in the 1950s, where she became the emcee and music director for the Jewel Box Revue, a racially integrated variety show featuring 25 drag queens and DeLarverie as the lone drag king.
At the time, NYC law required every person to wear at least three pieces of clothing that matched the gender they were assigned at birth. DeLarverie tried to obey this law by wearing women’s clothing on the streets and only doing drag on stage. However, she was arrested twice while wearing women’s clothing because cops thought she was a drag queen.
DeLarverie was present during the Stonewall Uprising in 1969. Many believe that DeLarverie was the “mysterious butch lesbian” that was being arrested for violating the three-piece clothing law and threw the first punch. A fact that she later confirmed in a 2008 interview for Curve Magazine.
After the death of DeLarverie’s longtime partner, she became a bodyguard, working for rich NYC families by day and at some of the most popular gay and lesbian bars in the city at night. She wore a gun on her hip and was often referred to as the “Butch Cowboy of NYC.”
To quote her obituary in the NYT: “She literally walked the streets of downtown Manhattan like a gay superhero. … She was not to be messed with by any stretch of the imagination.”
DeLarverie was a member of the Stonewall Veterans’ Association, holding the offices of Chief of Security, Ambassador, and Vice President (from 1998-2000).
DeLarverie spent her life advocating for and protecting the LGBTQ+ community. She was fiercely protective of her queer family, not tolerating any of what she called “ugliness” to her people.
DeLarverie died in 2014 at the age of 93.
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