Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Pioneering Transgender Activist and Stonewall Veteran, Dies at 78

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, whose activism spanned more than half a century and whose influence reached across generations of LGBTQ+ people, died on October 13, 2025, at her home in Little Rock, Arkansas. She was 78 years old. Her death was announced by the House of GG—Griffin-Gracy Retreat and Educational Center, an organization she founded to support Black transgender communities.

Born in Chicago on October 25, 1946, Griffin-Gracy knew from an early age that she was a girl, despite being assigned male at birth. She graduated high school at 16 but faced discrimination in college for wearing women’s clothing, an experience that foreshadowed a lifetime of resistance against systemic oppression. In 1962, she moved to New York City, where she worked in a hospital morgue and performed in drag shows, including at the famed Apollo Theater.

Griffin-Gracy’s activism took a historic turn during the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a series of protests by LGBTQ+ people against police harassment that is widely regarded as the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. She was among those who fought back against police during the riots, later recalling, “I guess we were just sick of their shit. And suddenly we were fighting, and we were kicking their a*s”. Her firsthand account, documented in her memoir *Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary*, offers a vital perspective on a pivotal moment in queer history.

In the early 1970s, Griffin-Gracy was arrested on a robbery charge and spent time in men’s prisons and mental hospitals—experiences that deeply informed her later work with incarcerated transgender people. After her release, she dedicated herself to supporting others who had faced similar hardships, especially Black transgender women and transgender women of color.

During the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Griffin-Gracy worked with HIV-prevention groups in New York, providing direct care to those most affected by the epidemic. She later moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she became the first executive director of the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), an organization advocating for the rights of incarcerated transgender people. In this role, she returned to prisons as a mentor to transgender women inside, earning the nickname “Mama” for her nurturing leadership.

Griffin-Gracy’s approach to activism was deeply intersectional, addressing not only LGBTQ+ rights but also racial justice, prison abolition, and healthcare access. She was known for her fierce honesty, generosity, and unwavering resistance to oppression, qualities that endeared her to countless activists and community members.

In 2019, she co-founded the House of GG (Griffin-Gracy Retreat and Educational Center) in Arkansas, a sanctuary and educational hub for Black transgender women and gender-nonconforming people. Despite suffering a stroke that same year, she continued to mentor, organize, and inspire, refusing to let health challenges stop her advocacy.

Griffin-Gracy’s influence extended far beyond her official roles. She was a beloved matriarch to many, offering guidance, shelter, and unconditional love to those marginalized by society. Janetta Johnson, her successor at the Miss Major Alexander L. Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center, is among the many “daughters” she mentored. Her family also includes her longtime partner, Beck Witt; her sons Asaiah, Christopher, and Jonathon; her sisters Tracie O’Brien and Billie Cooper; and countless community members who found refuge and strength in her presence.

Tributes from LGBTQ+ organizations and leaders poured in following her death. The Human Rights Campaign described her as “a pillar in our community” whose “lifetime of challenging work fundamentally changed and improved the lives of so many, especially Black transgender women”. Diego M. Sanchez of PFLAG National called her “tender, giving, and selfless,” noting that “she survived with strength and grace when so many Black trans women didn’t and couldn’t”.

Griffin-Gracy’s life and wisdom have been preserved in several oral history collections, including "Captive Genders: Trans Embodiment and the Prison Industrial Complex", "The Stonewall Reader", and "The Stonewall Generation: LGBT Elders on Sex, Activism, and Aging". Her memoir, "Miss Major Speaks", released in 2023, offers an intimate look at her journey and the movements she helped shape.

In the wake of her passing, activists and organizations have pledged to carry forward Griffin-Gracy’s legacy. A spokesperson for SisTers PGH, a Black, trans-led organization in Pittsburgh, affirmed: “She’s still f*****g here: in every Black trans person breathing, in every activist, every organizer, every healer, every sister still fighting…. You are forever our heartbeat”. The House of GG urged the community to “infuse our communities with her kindness, generosity, fierce honesty and unwavering resistance against oppression”.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy’s life was a testament to the power of resilience, love, and community. From the streets of Stonewall to the halls of prisons and the heart of the HIV/AIDS crisis, she fought tirelessly for the dignity and rights of transgender people, especially those most marginalized. Her story is not just one of survival, but of radical care and unyielding hope. As the LGBTQ+ community mourns her loss, her spirit lives on in the movements she helped build and the countless lives she touched.