More than 75 thousand people signed a petition asking for a monument to the explorer of the Americas Christopher Columbus be replaced by one of Marsha P. Johnson, pioneering LGBT rights activist in the 1969 Stonewall riots.
The petition, made on the platform Change, aims to obtain 200 thousand signatures to implement the proposal. The Columbus monument is located in Johnson's hometown, Elizabeth, in the state of New Jersey.
“We should celebrate Marsha P. Johnson for the incredible things she did while alive and for the inspiration she is to members of the LGBT+ community around the world,” especially trans women of color.
Johnson was found dead in New York's Hudson River in 1992, shortly after that year's Parade. She was 46 years old and the circumstances of the incident are a bit mysterious.
New York police classified the death as a suicide, although the activist had a head wound. In 2012, police reopened the case as a possible homicide, following efforts by trans activist Mariah Lopez.
A Netflix documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, tells the story of the iconic activist and addresses the unsolved case of her death.
