Stormé DeLarverie

Stormé DeLarverie (c. December 24, 1920 – May 24, 2014) was an American woman known as the butch lesbian whose scuffle with police was, according to DeLarverie and many eyewitnesses, the spark that ignited the Stonewall uprising, spurring the crowd to action. She was born in New Orleans, to an African American mother and a white father. She is remembered as a gay civil rights icon and entertainer, who performed and hosted at the Apollo Theater and Radio City Music Hall. She worked for much of her life as an MC, singer, bouncer, bodyguard, and volunteer street patrol worker, the "guardian of lesbians in the Village". It seems unlikely she ever publicly expressed a specific gender identity, as confirmed by Michele Zalopany, director of "Stormé: The Lady of the Jewel Box,” saying Stormé didn't "identify as anything but chose to live her life as a Black man." When prompted to personally identify in the aforementioned documentary, DeLarverie asked to simply be known "as me," and when asked what pronouns she prefers, DeLarverie is reported to have said, "Whatever makes YOU feel most comfortable." Long-time friend Lisa Cannistraci has gone on record saying that she believes DeLarverie was non-binary. She is known as "the Rosa Parks of the gay community."