Description: "Black trans luminary Tourmaline brings to life the first definitive biography of the revolutionary activist Marsha P. Johnson, one of the most important and remarkable figures in LGBTQ+ history, revealing her story, her impact, and her legacy. Through nearly two decades of research, Tourmaline brings this fabulous, scandalous, essential justice warrior to life in full color, for the first time. This book will take readers into Marsha's childhood as she struggled with gender identity in the 1950s, to her dramatic and essential involvement in the Stonewall Riots and her activism for trans rights through the 70s to the AIDS crisis, and finally, it will explore her mysterious and still unresolved death. Marsha's biography will embody the beauty of deviance. Marsha didn't wait to be freed; she declared herself free and told the world to catch up. Marsha was not merely an activist, she was an artist and a performer, a lover and a mentor, a mischievous and transgressive queen. Marsha honors the fullness of her life and will give this remarkable figure her rightful place in history"--
Review Quotes: **One of Ms. Magazine's Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2025**
**One of The Mary Sue's 15 Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books of 2025**
--Janet Mock, author of the New York Times bestseller Redefining Realness
"The depth of Tourmaline's storytelling is historic, an enduring and urgent reminder from Marsha P. Johnson that history is not inevitable, it is made."
--Meena Harris, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling book Ambitious Girl "Tourmaline continues her practice of creativity as a revolutionary act, this time to illuminate the remarkable life of Marsha P. Johnson. Marsha's story and Tourmaline's unique voice blend seamlessly, in a narrative that will break your heart and put it back together again, leaving you better than when it found you. This is a book for our times, full of inspiration, community, truth and--at its core--radical love."
--Lena Dunham, actor, director, producer, and author of the #1 New York Times bestselling book Not That Kind of Girl "Finally! A full-fledged biography of trans icon Marsha P. Johnson that fleshes out the substance of a remarkable life too often reduced to a glib name-check. Tourmaline delivers the goods with a verve that will help all of us all pay Marsha some mind."
--Susan Stryker, author of Transgender History "Loving, beautiful, and honest, Marsha tells a story of jubilation fighting darkness, while revealing a vast world of queer, trans life that has always been there for those willing to see."
--Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Thelonious Monk and Freedom Dreams "Tourmaline's Marsha is a book that's teeming with life as much as heart. From Tourmaline's prose, readers will see and understand Marsha as the human being behind all of her myths, someone flawed yet ambitious and headstrong. A page-turner with vibrant characters, dialogue, and most of all, crucial history."
--Morgan Jerkins, author of the New York Times bestseller This Will Be My Undoing "In this forceful, passionate, and unique tribute to the legacy and life of Marsha P. Johnson, Tourmaline brings Marsha to life and changes our collective memories with this devoted preservation of the community, the grassroots, friendships, and the will of the Black transwoman individual. A celebration of every queer who willed her self-understanding into reality, told with love and alchemy."
--Sarah Schulman, author of The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity and Let the Record Show "Tourmaline succeeds in taking the iconic Marsha off the museum walls and reanimating her as a flesh-and-blood queer force of nature. Her street-level, tour de Times Square style of storytelling is irrepressibly engaging and a tribute worthy of the Stonewall queen herself."
--Robert W. Fieseler, author of the Edgar-award winner Tinderbox
"Illuminating... a poignant portrait of a figure whose "greater sense of freedom" still inspires."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review "A well-researched biography... a warm homage to a pioneering artist."
--Kirkus