CBH Talk | Tourmaline and Hugh Ryan Discuss “Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson”
Join Black transgender luminary Tourmaline for a conversation about her definitive biography of the revolutionary activist Marsha P. Johnson. Moderated by Hugh Ryan.
Rumor has it that after Marsha P. Johnson threw the first brick in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, she picked up a shard of broken mirror to fix her makeup. Marsha, a legendary Black transgender activist, embodied both the beauty and the struggle of the early gay rights movement. Her work sparked the progress we see today, yet there has never been a definitive record of her life. Until now.
Tourmaline’s biography Marsha finally brings this groundbreaking icon to life. A national bestseller, selected by The New York Times as a nonfiction book “To Read This Spring,” Marsha portrays both the activist and artist, a woman who didn’t wait to be freed, but declared herself free and told the world to catch up.
As Janet Mock writes, “This literary tribute, adorned in garlands and glitter, is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the true cost and the enduring legacy of an LGBTQIA+ icon’s fight for liberation.”
Join Tourmaline and Hugh Ryan, author of When Brooklyn Was Queer, for a conversation that promises to inspire all to live their most liberated, unruly, vibrant, and whole selves.
Presented in connection to LGBTQ History Month. Photograph of Tourmaline courtesy of Sam Gregg.
Participants
A Guggenheim Fellow and TIME100 Honoree, Tourmaline is an artist, filmmaker, and national bestselling author whose work spans high art and pop culture. Tourmaline’s art is in the permanent collections of The Met, MoMA, Tate, and the Whitney, among other museums. Her influence in contemporary art has also been showcased in both the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial.
Tourmaline’s award-winning films — including the critically acclaimed Happy Birthday, Marsha!; Salacia; Atlantic is a Sea of Bones; and Mary of Ill Fame — have been widely recognized for their unique blend of historical narrative and speculative futurism. Tourmaline’s commercial film projects have premiered at the MTV Video Music Awards, and she has led the creative for brand campaigns with Fortune 500 companies, such as a film series presented by Unilever on the topic of LGBTQ+ communities in rural America. Tourmaline’s portfolio also extends to fashion: her trans-inclusive swimwear line with Chromat debuted at New York Fashion Week with glowing praise from Vogue. The latest collection launched in April 2025.
Tourmaline’s new book MARSHA is the first definitive biography of the revolutionary Black trans activist Marsha P. Johnson. It was named a National Bestseller, received a Starred Review by Publishers Weekly, and was selected by The New York Times for inclusion in the Nonfiction Spring Book Preview. Her children’s book ONE DAY IN JUNE, also inspired by Marsha P. Johnson’s life and activism, received a Starred Review by Publishers Weekly. The recipient of the BlackStar Luminary Award, Stonewall Visionary Award, HBO Queer Art Prize,and the Baloise Art Prize at Art Basel, Tourmaline crafts worlds across a variety of media that center pleasure, possibility, and transformation. She has been frequently featured in The New York Times, Vogue, Artforum, and TIME Magazine. A former leader of the Trans Health Campaign at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, Tourmaline has built a career rooted in community organizing and trans liberation, and is a transformative voice in movements for racial, economic, and gender justice.
Tourmaline is a graduate of Columbia University and lives in Miami with her partner Cameron and their cat Jean.
Hugh Ryan is an award-winning historian, the author of The Women's House of Detention and When Brooklyn Was Queer, and co-host (with Peopermint) of the Queer History 101 Book Club for Allstora. He teaches creative nonfiction in the Bennington Writing Seminars MFA.
