Trans leader Miss Major Griffin-Gracy dies

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a Black transgender woman and longtime activist who once lived in the Bay Area, died October 13. She was 78. 

Miss Major, as she was widely known, had spent the past several years living in Arkansas and passed away at her home in Little Rock surrounded by family and friends, according to a news release from House of gg - Griffin-Gracy Educational Retreat and Historical Center. It was there that she entered home hospice in early October, according to friends. She had suffered from various health issues over the years, including a stroke in 2019.

The release noted that Miss Major, also known as "Mama," fought for more than 50 years for trans, gender-nonconforming, and LGB community – especially for Black trans women, trans women of color, and those who have survived incarceration and police brutality.

In San Francisco, Miss Major had served as executive director of the Transgender Gender-Variant Intersex Justice Project. She had co-founded TGIJP in 2004 with Alexander Lee, an Asian American trans man. The nonprofit works to end human rights abuses against trans, intersex, and gender-variant people, particularly trans women of color who are in California prisons and detention centers.

In 2023, Miss Major wrote a book with Toshio Meronek, “Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary,” that discusses her life as a former sex worker, and a transgender elder and activist who had survived Bellevue psychiatric hospital, Attica Prison, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and a world that white supremacy has built, as the publisher, Verso, described. 

“She has shared tips with other sex workers in the nascent drag ball scene of the late 1960s, and helped found one of America’s first needle exchange clinics from the back of her van,” the webpage for the book stated.

Janetta Johnson, a Black trans woman who is the current CEO of TGIJP, wrote on the organization’s website earlier this year praising Miss Major.

“I will never forget the day in 1997 when I called Miss Major and said, ‘I want change. I need change. I need help. Will you help me?’ And she said, ‘Sure, baby!’ I replied, ‘Thank you! I will be there in two weeks. Give me the address,’” Johnson wrote.

“I left Tampa, Florida, for San Francisco, knowing only one Black Trans woman who was said to be part of uplifting the Black Trans community,” she added. “I got on the Greyhound and arrived in San Francisco. I consider that move the beginning of being raised, supported, and nurtured by Miss Major – having a trans mom, a sister, and a friend. She loved me, nurtured me back to health, and helped me find a sense of safety within myself. She taught me to love, to be strong, and to seek refuge not just for myself but for my community.”

Johnson was formerly incarcerated herself, as she explained in another blog post. https://belonging.berkeley.edu/perspectives-belonging-janetta-johnson

Cecilia Chung, a transgender woman living with HIV who is senior adviser at the Oakland-based Transgender Law Center, expressed gratitude for Miss Major’s advocacy over the years.

“I have known Miss Major for over 30 years,” stated Chung, who serves on the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women. “She was a pillar for Black trans women and an amazing advocate for trans and nonbinary people who are survivors of institutional violence, especially those in the carceral systems. Today, we are not just mourning the loss of an elder, we are also celebrating the life of a phenomenal person loved by all of us.”

Diego M. Sanchez, a Latino trans man who is vice president of policy and government affairs for PFLAG National, was also a longtime friend of Miss Major’s.

“Miss Major was my hero and friend for decades,” Sanchez stated. “She was tender, giving, and selfless. She survived with strength and grace when so many Black trans women didn’t and couldn’t. Miss Major never let the world limit her, defining herself unapologetically as the amazing woman she was. She will be forever in my heart.”

 
When trans actor Laverne Cox made an appearance in San Francisco in 2014, she praised Miss Major from the stage, as the Bay Area Reporter noted.

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her and people like her," Cox told the audience. "She's a living legend."

In an interview with the B.A.R. at the time, Miss Major said she felt "thrilled" that Cox looked up to her and was glad to see a public gesture of appreciation toward elders despite not living in a society that caters to that.

"When you do this kind of work, those moments don't come along often," Miss Major said. "I was so enamored and honored by her, for who she is and how she got there. She really is a beacon."

At the time, Cox was starring in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black,” which dealt with life in a women’s prison and featured several out female characters.

Miss Major was a veteran of the Stonewall riots that occurred at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in June 1969. Locally, Miss Major served as a San Francisco Pride community grand marshal in 2014.

A documentary about her, “Major!” was released in 2016 and won awards on the festival circuit.  

Miss Major remained active over the years. The LGBTQ publication Them reported that last year, she attended the inaugural Gender Liberation March in Washington, D.C.

After moving to the South, Miss Major co-founded the House of gg , aka “the Oasis,” an Arkansas-based center for trans activists to “heal [...] from the trauma arising from generations of transphobia, racism, sexism, poverty, ableism and violence,” as Them reported earlier this year in an article about Miss Major’s hospitalization due to sepsis.

In January 2021, Matt Baum, writing for Them, reported that Miss Major had announced on Instagram that she and her partner, Beck Witt, welcomed a baby named Asiah Wittenstein Major. According to Wikipedia, Miss Major has several other children.

The release stated that in addition to her partner, Miss Major is survived by her three sons Asaiah, Christopher, and Jonathon; her many daughters, including Johnson, the successor of the Miss Major Alexander L. Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center in San Francisco; her sisters Tracie O’Brien and Billie Cooper; keeper of spare parts, Thom Jeffress; countless members of the community who have been shaped by her mentorship and legacy as a leader; and a whole host of family and friends. 

Updated, 10/14/25: This article has been updated with additional comments.