Latest Stonewall Clip Focuses On Trans Activist Marsha P. Johnson

After an unexpectedly large backlash following the release of the trailer for Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall, those behind the marketing have been doing some damage limitation even if they haven’t admitted that’s what they’re doing.

The anger came from the fact the trailer made it look like the film would erase the trans people and people of color who were central to the Stonewall riots, so that it could suggest it was all down to a pretty, young, white, cisgender guy, as played by Jeremy Irvine. While both Irvine and Emmerich were quick to defend the film, saying the movie is much broader than that and features a diverse cast of queer characters, many weren’t satisfied with that.

Since then the marketing has shifted, with the recent poster pushing Irvine off to the side to show that trans and people of color are also prominent characters, and now a new clip has arrived that focuses on Marsha P. Johnson. The lack of Marsha in the trailer was one of the biggest bones of contention, as this trans woman of color is seen as one of the key figures at Stonewall, and many believed she’d been completely erased from the story for the film.

While it still remains to be seen quite how prominent she is, the new clip does show she is part of the film. Take a look below.

Stonewall will be released in theaters on September 25, 2015. Here’s the synopsis: ‘STONEWALL is a drama about a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall riots. Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine) is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parent’s home and flees to New York. Alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, he befriends Ray (Jonny Beauchamp) and a group of street kids who soon introduce him to the local watering hole The Stonewall Inn; however, this shady, mafia-run club is far from a safe-haven. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination, endure atrocities and are repeatedly harassed by the police, we see a rage begin to build. This emotion runs through the entire community of young gays, lesbians, drag queens and trans people who populate the Stonewall Inn and erupts in a storm of anger. With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born.’