Johnson initially used the moniker "Black Marsha" but later decided on the drag queen name "Marsha P. Johnson", getting "Johnson" from the restaurant Howard Johnson's on 42nd Street, stating that the "P" stood for "pay it no mind" and used the phrase sarcastically when questioned about gender, saying "it stands for pay it no mind". Johnson said the phrase once to a judge, who was amused by it, leading to Johnson's release. Johnson variably identified as gay, as a transvestite, and as a queen (referring to drag queen). According to Susan Stryker, a professor of human gender and sexuality studies at the University of Arizona, Johnson's gender expression could perhaps most accurately be called "gender non-conforming"; Johnson never self-identified with the term "transgender", but the term was also not in broad use while Johnson was alive.