Mama Jean Devente was an unsung heroine of the gay rights movement. "A proud (self-described) butch dyke, Mama Jean believed in freedom for all or none, something she attributed to seeing her entire community fight at Stonewall: 'Let me tell you,' she said, 'we weren't scared at that particular moment. We were fucking angry. Everyone was fighting. The gays came out strong. And you got to hand it to the transvestites and the transsexuals. They were the ones who fought back first. And we were behind them.'" Mama Jean was at Kooky's, a lesbian bar located at 149 West 14th Street on June 28, 1969, when the Stonewall uprising began. "We ran toward the outburst, and that's when we hit the whole thing."
Mama Jean played an essential role in organizing many of the early Christopher Street Liberation Day (today's Pride March, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year). She not only served as Grand Marshal at a number of early Pride Marches, she was a key member of Gay Activists Alliance and Lesbian Feminist Liberation.
