Stonewall veteran Miss Major Griffin-Gracy dies aged 78
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy died on 13 October, aged 78, in the comfort of her home, surrounded by her loved ones. (Rob Kim/Getty Images)
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy died on 13 October, aged 78, in the comfort of her home, surrounded by her loved ones. (Rob Kim/Getty Images)
Legendary Stonewall veteran Miss Major Griffin-Gracy has died, just days before her 79th birthday. She had been ill for some time.
Her death was announced on social media by the House of GG, also known as The Oasis and The Griffin-Gracy Retreat and Educational Center, which she founded in 2019.
The Facebook post read: “Miss Major passed away on October in the comfort of her home, surrounded by loved ones in Little Rock, Arkansas. 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.”
Known to many as “Mama”, she recently began receiving hospice care at home.
People have been responding to the news, with one person describing her as a “true pioneer and tireless advocate for the LGBTQ+ community”, and going on to say: “It is now our responsibility to carry forward her legacy, to infuse our communities with her kindness, generosity, fierce honesty and unwavering resistance against oppression.”
A spokesperson for SisTers PGH, a Black, trans-led organisation in Pittsburgh, said: “She’s still f*****g here: in every Black trans person breathing, in every activist, every organiser, every healer, every sister still fighting.
“Sisters PGH honours the life and legacy of our matriarch, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a revolutionary who taught us that love is liberation… you are forever our heartbeat.”
Griffin-Gracy was born in Chicago on 25 October 1946. Assigned male at birth, she knew her true gender was female from an early age. She graduated from high school at the age of 16 but ran into trouble at college because she owned female clothing, The Advocate reported. In 1962, she moved to New York, where she worked in a hospital morgue and performed in drag shows, including at the famous Apollo Theater.
Becoming known for her advocacy for trans and marginalised people, Griffin-Gracy’s campaigning took her across the country. She played a key part in the 1969 Stonewall Riots, a turning point for queer rights in the US.
“I guess we were just sick of their [policemen’s] shit,” she wrote in Miss Major Speaks, according to The Advocate. “And suddenly we were fighting, and we were kicking their a*s.”
Later arrested on a robbery charge, she spent time in men’s prisons and mental hospitals in the early 70s. In the 80s, at the height of the Aids crisis, she worked with HIV-prevention groups.
She suffered a stroke in 2019, shortly after co-founding the House of GG.
Despite her health issues, she refused to stop working and in an Instagram post shortly after Donald Trump won the presidential election last year, she wrote: “We got to prepare ourselves to fight for our lives. We must hold on to our beliefs, hold on to our wishes and our wants and our desires.
“We got to find a way around this stuff and get through the next four years. I don’t know how we’re going to do it but we’re a tough bunch of b****es.”
A spokesperson for House of GG said: “Miss Major is survived by her long-time partner, Beck Witt, three sons Asaiah, Christopher and Jonathon, her many daughters, including Janetta Johnson, successor of the Miss Major Alexander L Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center, her sisters Tracie O’Brien and Billie Cooper, keeper of spare parts Thom Jeffress [and] countless members of community who have been shaped by her mentorship and legacy as a leader, and a whole host of family and friends.”
