Trans Activist Miss Major Passes Away 🕊️

[phantasmas 12,402]

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, an activist and defining figure in LGBTQ+ liberation movements, has died, according to the House of GG Facebook account. Griffin-Gracy was 78.

“It is with profound sadness that House of GG announces the passing of our beloved leader and revolutionary figure in the TLGBQ liberation movement, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy,” the organization wrote in a post, noting that the activist had passed on October 13. “Her enduring legacy is a testament to her resilience, activism, and dedication to creating safe spaces for Black trans communities and all trans people — we are eternally grateful for Miss Major’s life, her contributions and how deeply she poured into those she loved.”

Griffin-Gracy had been admitted to the hospital with a blood clot and a sepsis diagnosis in September. She was released to receive in-home hospice care earlier this month.

Over the span of her life, Griffin-Gracy’s work as an activist ranged from her work on behalf of people suffering with HIV and AIDS in the early 1980s, to launching San Francisco’s first mobile needle exchange, to her championing of the abolitionist movement, often prioritizing trans women. Some of this latter work was done as the executive director of the Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project, which she joined in 2005. In 1969, she resisted police violence in the Stonewall Uprisings, largely viewed as the launch of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Even during her last weeks of life, while navigating her declining health,Griffin-Gracy always stood by her mission: trans people — particularly Black trans women — should be at the forefront of the LGBTQ+ right movement, never an afterthought. If her legacy represents one thing most clearly, that trans people, and especially trans women, should be prioritized.

“I will let these mother****ers know in a heartbeat as far as I’m concerned that T should have been first."

Source: https://www.them.us/story/miss-major-griffin-gracy-obituary-dies-78-stonewall-trans-activist

Edited October 14, 2025 by phantasmas

[phantasmas 12,402]

There is a wonderful interview of her where she discusses her childhood, events leading up to the Stonewall Riots, life during the AIDs pandemic as well as projects and organizations she helped lead: 

https://theoutwordsarchive.org/interview/miss-major-griffin-gracy/

It is rare that we get to hear from such prominent lgbt historical figures directly. It is about 2hrs long but an amazing watch!

[Roughhouse Dandy 13,689]

Rest easy, Legend 

[TheSine 6,912]

Respect.

[27monster27 15,916]

I got to see her at the Gender Liberation March in September of last year. Truly an icon who fought through every single battle no matter how hard things got. Rest in Power Miss Major; we will continue your fight with the same unwavering strength in the face of evil that you did.