How does this artwork elucidate its Criticisms?
The monument has been subject to criticism from those who say it inadequately represents the diversity of the activists who participated in the Stonewall uprising. Some of the prominent participants in the Stonewall riots, such as Stormé DeLarverie and Marsha P. Johnson were both African-American and gender-nonconforming. Delarverie was a well-known butch dyke, known for performing in popular drag revues and appearing with celebrated entertainers in Harlem. Johnson, who identified as a transvestite and "street queen", modeled for Andy Warhol and performed with the drag troupes, Hot Peaches and the Angels of Light. While not as well-known, Zazu Nova, who has at times been mistaken for Johnson, was a young, Black and gender-nonconforming participant who has been cited by a number of witnesses as one of "three individuals known to have been in the vanguard" of the pushback against police once the rioting peaked late that night (Johnson and Jackie Hormona being the other two named).Some have criticized the monument's status as a widely recognized beacon of queer freedom. Deirdre Conlon, citing the theories of French Marxist Henri Lefebvre (1901–1991), argues that representations of space are profoundly influenced by societal systems and institutions, and that representations of space can and should be fluid and open to modification. Lefebvre argued that productions of space have been "colonized" by concrete and stagnant representations that "impose an image" and thereby establish and regulate the commemoration and memorialization of a historical moment or phenomenon. Genevieve Flavelle, writing in C Magazine, questioned whether the quiet, peaceful Gay Liberation monument adequately pays homage to the revolutionary and tumultuous history of the Stonewall Riots, writing "why does the Gay Liberation monument (1980), a George Segal commission for the 10th anniversary of the Riots, depict four figures quietly socializing in Christopher Park instead of scores of drag queens throwing high heels and ripping parking meters out of the ground?"
street queen Henri Lefebvre Stonewall riots Stonewall uprising African-American Harlem Hot Peaches drag queen Marsha P. Johnson Christopher Park Stormé DeLarverie gender-nonconforming Angels of Light George Segal butch dyke