Miss Major Griffin-Gracy

February is Black History Month! Southern Arizona Senior Pride is celebrating by highlighting the life and accomplishments of a Black LGBTQI+ changemaker every Friday this month.

Miss Major Griffin-Gracy (1946 – 2025) was a towering figure in the movement for Black trans liberation, whose life and work reshaped what justice, care, and resistance look like. A Black transgender woman and longtime activist, Miss Major was present at the 1969 Stonewall riots and went on to spend more than five decades fighting for the dignity and safety of transgender people, particularly trans women of color.

After surviving incarceration, poverty, and systemic violence, Miss Major transformed her lived experience into advocacy rooted in love and accountability. As executive director of the Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP), she centered incarcerated and formerly incarcerated trans people, challenged the prison-industrial complex, and modeled a form of leadership grounded in compassion rather than respectability.

Miss Major’s impact is immeasurable and enduring. Her legacy calls on us to protect one another fiercely and to build a future in which trans people can live freely, safely, and with joy.

Don’t miss next week’s article about Bayard Rustin.