AMNA NAWAZ: A new biography called "Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson" tells the story of the Black transgender pioneer's fight on the front lines of history as a leader in the early LGBTQ rights movement.

In the 2018 fictional film "Happy Birthday, Marsha!"

activist and filmmaker Tourmaline reimagined the hours that led to the 1969 Stonewall riots.

In this new book, as well as her children's book, "One Day in June," Tourmaline tells Johnson's story through her own words and those who knew her.

I had a chance to speak with Tourmaline earlier, before today's Supreme Court decision.

Tourmaline joins me here now.

Welcome to the "News Hour," thanks for joining us.

TOURMALINE, Author, "Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson": Thanks so much for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So you already explored a large part of Marsha's life through that film that we mentioned.

What made you want to return to it in a deeper way in book form?

TOURMALINE: So I have been documenting, archiving, and sharing the story of Marsha P. Johnson for 20 years now.

It has been such a gift to get to know different aspects of Marsha's life, from -- I moved to New York when I was 19, and it was right shortly after then that I started to hear about Marsha in the West Village and meet her friends and her family.

And I wanted to make sure that everyone would be able to receive the gift of knowing Marsha that I got to have.

AMNA NAWAZ: In researching this book and doing interviews, did you discover anything new about her that surprised you didn't know before?

TOURMALINE: Yes, absolutely.

Marsha was a Jersey girl.

She was from Elizabeth, New Jersey, and she was born into a really beautiful family, the Michaels family.

That's where she started to perform.

She was in parades down Main Street in Elizabeth.

And I think a lot of people have seen these beautiful portraits of Marsha adorned in flowers with a radiant smile, but don't necessarily know her performance life.

She was doing two performances a day with the Off-Off Broadway group Hot Peaches, and she was performing during the emergence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic at hospitals and AIDS wards, and that was really part of Marsha's beauty, was bringing her magic to the people who needed it most.

AMNA NAWAZ: The P, as her middle initial, she once said stood for pay it no mind, which basically became kind of like a motto for Marsha.

It's even displayed above the entrance to the state park in her name in Brooklyn.

What did that phrase mean to her?

Why was that so defining?

TOURMALINE: It was so important because Marsha was born into a world with immense harsh conditions, right?

She moved to New York City, Times Square in 1963, and at the time, if you were a trans person, you could be arrested and put in jail just by going outside and living out your truth.

There were these three articles of clothes laws that the New York Police Department used to arrest and punitize trans and gender nonconformed people.

So Marsha was really aware of the conditions of her life, and she dedicated her life to be a leader for her entire community.

And, also, it was really important for her to not get tangled up in the noise of it all.

So she said, pay it no mind to the people who didn't understand her beauty.

She said, pay it no mind to people who could never see the value of her community, who didn't understand the beauty of trans and gender non-conforming people, turning up the volume of their entire life.

AMNA NAWAZ: You document this story as she becomes sort of a celebrated muse and a prolific performer, as you noted.

And you write this.

You say: "Marsha never had an agent or a gallery, but she was making art.

She was seen as an artist and she was practicing her art in knowing and intentional ways."

Tell us about that blend of activism and art.

TOURMALINE: Yes, to me, I'm an artist.

I'm a filmmaker and a photographer.

And part of what I see in Marsha is a real commitment to the arts.

She was doing performances on stage for a crowd that included Stevie Wonder and Andy Warhol.

Marsha was an incredible artist, but she also did it on the street, right?

It was a real clear sign when you saw Marsha adorned with flowers, paying it no mind despite the real harsh conditions, it was a sign that you were welcome here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tourmaline, as you and I speak now, we're in a time when the administration has been involved in an effort that really revises and erases a lot of transgender history from official government Web sites.

There was reporting about the removal of some information, including related to Marsha P. Johnson's life, from a National Park Service Web site.

How do you look at this moment in American history and what we can take from Marsha's life at this time?

TOURMALINE: To me, it's really important to look at Marsha as a leader who was navigating similar conditions and was fighting for all of us.

She demonstrated that, when we come together in the midst of a mess of a thing and connect with other people who are navigating similarly challenging conditions, we can build a vibrant movement and transform the world.

So that's one thing that I think about.

The second that I think about is that she met Sylvia Rivera, her friend, when Sylvia Rivera was 13 years old in Times Square.

So, part of the story of Times Square and the street queens and Marsha in the 60s is, a lot of young people were leaving their homes because of misunderstandings with their family, hostilities in their homes.

A lot of queer, transgender, nonconforming, LGBTQIA+ young people had to leave their homes and would be houseless.

I think, to me, it's really important to ask, do we really want to go back to that?

Do we really want to go back to a time when young people are not able to get the care that they need, are not able to have safe homes filled with understanding?

Because that was the reality that Marsha P. Johnson was navigating, just like Sylvia Rivera and so many other people.

AMNA NAWAZ: The book is "Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P.

Johnson."

The author is Tourmaline.

Thank you so much for your time.

Such a pleasure to speak with you.

TOURMALINE: Thank you so much for having me.