Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
Updated: Mar 15, 2022
Image retrieved from Out Magazine.
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is a trans activist who has worked for decades to disrupt oppression, especially against trans and Black people. Her work is founded on her experiences as a young woman in New York City in the 1960s who survived through sex work and drag performance. Miss Major was part of the famous Stonewall riots that started on June 28, 1969.
In the years after Stonewall, she was incarcerated multiple times and faced the harsh reality of being a Black trans woman in the prison-industrial complex. This informed her dedication to “advocating for incarcerated trans folks, particularly trans women of color who, like Miss Major was, are often housed in men's prisons” (Masters, 2021).
Miss Major’s advocacy is expansive and works to disrupt the caste system in many ways. Jeffrey Masters (2021) notes, “She's worked for multiple HIV/AIDS organizations, lead support groups around the U.S., and was the first executive director of the Transgender Gender-Variant and Intersex Justice Project, a role she held until she retired in 2015.” Miss Major works to empower trans communities through her involvement in the production of trans focused media, while also creating spaces to connect and built communities. One of her more recent projects is the House of GG, “the first educational and historical center solely dedicated to Transgender and gender nonconforming people in the USA” (House of GG, 2021). The center works to educate, empower, and foster community among transgender and gender nonconforming people.
In an interview for Them., Miss Major tells Raquel Willis (2018),
“I’d want to be remembered for trying to do the right thing and care for all people. We’re all part of one another. I would want people to understand who we are as human beings. I want us to look at the similarities more than the differences.”
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is an important role model to look to when we consider how to disrupt caste in a way that liberates everyone.
References:
Funk, M. (n.d.). Miss major interview. THE OUTWORDS ARCHIVE. Retrieved from https://theoutwordsarchive.org/subjectdetail/miss-major
House of GG. (2021, April 16). Retrieved from https://houseofgg.org/
Masters, J. (2021, February 23). What Trans elder miss major Griffin-Gracy wants you to know. Advocate. Retrieved from https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2021/2/23/what-trans-elder-miss-major-griffin-gracy-wants-you-know
Willis, R. (2018, March 8). How miss Major helped spark the modern Trans Movement. them. Retrieved from https://www.them.us/story/transvisionaries-miss-major