October 15, 2025
The legendary transgender activist died at home surrounded by family and loved ones on Oct. 13.
Revolutionary transgender rights activist and author Miss Major Griffin-Gracy died on Monday, Oct. 13. She was 78.
A post shared to her Instagram account announced that Griffin-Gracy, who took part in the historic Stonewall rebellion, died peacefully at home in Little Rock, Arkansas, surrounded by loved ones.
“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,” the post read.
Known affectionately as “Mama” and regarded as a surrogate mother to the trans community, Griffin-Gracy spent over five decades advocating for Black trans women, gender-nonconforming people, and trans women impacted by incarceration, police brutality, and the AIDS crisis. She founded the House of GG (The Griffin-Gracy Educational and Historical Center) to provide safe spaces for those facing transphobia, racism, sexism, poverty, ableism, and violence.
As the first executive director of the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project, Griffin-Gracy provided crucial support to transgender, gender-variant, and intersex individuals in prison. Her work included visiting incarcerated trans people in California to connect them with legal and social services, as well as speaking before the California State Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Committee in Geneva about prison human rights violations.
The Chicago native remained steadfast in her advocacy for the trans community well into her later years, using motorized scooters and wheelchairs to travel nationwide and speak out against the growing wave of anti-trans legislation. She met with young LGBTQ+ people in local gay bars at the 2024 Democratic National Convention while campaigning for former Vice President Kamala Harris, and during her third visit to the White House in 2023, urging them to take action.
“We’ve got to stand up and fight,” she told one crowd. “Don’t be complacent now. Don’t step back and be in the shadows…you’ve got to do it. You’ve got to, because I can’t do it alone. And I decided to come around and let you know that you’ve got to stand up and move on this. We can’t afford to not move.”
In May 2023, she published her memoir, Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary, a collection of reflections, including her participation in the 1969 Stonewall rebellion and mentorship under Frank “Big Black” Smith, a leader of the 1971 Attica prison uprising. The book also detailed her decades of activism and community organizing.
“There will never be enough words to fully describe the impact Miss Major had on the LGBTQ+ people, on leaders across movements, on those she loved and were touched by her work and her words,” National LGBTQ Task Force President Kierra Johnson said in the statement, according to CNN. “She was a revolutionary, a visionary, a legend—a foundational mother of our movement and an inspiration to those fighting for liberation. She was a sharp and unyielding truth teller.”
Griffin-Gracy is survived by her longtime partner, Beck Witt Major, and their child, Asiah Wittenstein Major, born in 2021. Throughout her life, she also raised other children through adoption and past relationships, including her son Christopher, born in 1978 to Deborah Brown. The legendary activist is also survived by Janetta Johnson, her successor at the Miss Major Alexander L. Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center, as well as her sisters, Tracie O’Brien and Billie Cooper.
RELATED CONTENT: Political Firestorm: Trump-Appointed Prosecutor Indicts Rival New York Attorney General Letitia James On Bank Fraud
