US activists have launched a petition calling on the Senate to make Marsha P Johnson’s birthday a national holiday.

Marsha P Johnson was an incredible, outspoken activist and a prominent figure in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969. Johnson was the co-founder of STAR (Street Transgender Action Revolutionaries) alongside Sylvia Rivera.

Although Johnson identified as a drag queen, she is considered the mother of the trans movement.

Johnson died in 1992 under suspicious circumstances. She was found in the Hudson River, and her death was initially ruled as death by suicide. It was later claimed by authorities that the cause of death was “drowning from undetermined causes” which was investigated further in the Netflix documentary The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson.

Through a petition on change.org, the GHOST Project are calling on the US Senate to make August 24 a national holiday.

The GHOST Project is a nonprofit dedicated to the awareness, support, empowerment, and visibility of the transgender community.

@TheAdvocateMag recently shared news about this petition from The GHOST Project to give Marsha P. Johnson a holiday. Read more here ➡️ https://t.co/fRDuiddzzz

— Change.org (@Change) August 26, 2019

On the change.org petition, the GHOST Project reads:

“Marsha “Pay It No Mind” Johnson is one of the great heroes of LGBTQ history, and making her birthday a day that we reflect on our history, community and shared values would truly honour her legacy.

“Andy Warhol immortalized her. RuPaul called her “the true Drag Mother who paved the way for all of us.” New Yorkers referred to her as the Queen of Christopher Street for decades. She was one of the first Stonewall patrons to resist during the Stonewall uprisings in 1969. She always wore flowers in her hair, and she always had a smile for everyone.

“In the spirit of Marsha’s legacy, the GHOST Project provides both support and empowerment to members of the transgender community who are struggling to overcome and survive in a world that does not celebrate us. We learned how to care for community from Marsha, who made this road we walk on every day.”

Earlier this year, it was announced that Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Riveria woulde be commemorated with a monument in New York.

It is expected that the monument will be placed down the street from the Stonewall Inn, where the 1969 Stonewall Riots took place.

At the time of writing this article, the petition has received 830 signatures.

Sign the petition for Marsha P. Johnson Day at change.org.