Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a pioneering Black transgender rights advocate who protested at the 1969 Stonewall uprising, has died. She was 78.
Miss Major’s death was confirmed Monday by House of GG, the Arkansas-based educational and historical nonprofit she founded in 2019.
“She affirmed that our lives hold meaning and that we stand on the shoulders of giants like her, whose courageous love and relentless fight assured our right to live with dignity,” the group said in a statement shared on its social media platforms. “We will forever honor her memory, her steadfast presence, and her enduring commitment to our collective liberation.”
The House of GG also shared in its statement that Miss Major died Monday at her home in Little Rock, Arkansas, surrounded by her loved ones. As of Tuesday afternoon, a cause of death had not yet been released, although The Advocate reported she’d entered hospice care last week after being hospitalized for a bloodstream infection.
She is survived by her longtime partner, Beck Witt Major; sons Asaiah, Christopher and Jonathon; her many daughters; Janetta Johnson, the successor of the Miss Major Alexander L. Lee TGIJP Black Trans Cultural Center; and sisters Tracie O’Brien and Billie Cooper.
