By Renée Andrea Imperato
November 19, 2025
Our beloved Miss Major Griffin-Gracy passed away Oct. 13 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 older trans people. We are eternally grateful for Miss Major’s life, her sacrifices and her contributions and how deeply she cared for those she loved.
Miss Major is survived by her longtime partner Beck Witt, her three sons and many daughters and a host of family and friends. While her physical presence has shifted, we have gained an immensely powerful ancestor. She will always be guiding, protecting and reminding us, with whose great sacrifice she is “still fucking here!”
From her leadership in the Stonewall Rebellion to her HIV activism, her legacy is powerful and lasting. We extend our deepest love and sympathies.
The House of gg (Griffin-Gracy), founded by Miss Major, focuses on supporting and nurturing the leadership of transgender women and men of color living in the U.S. South today.
It serves to empower, heal and be a safe haven for Black trans people and movement leaders in the Southern U.S. — a space for our community to take a break, swim, enjoy good food, laugh, listen to music, watch movies and recharge all of us for the ongoing fight for transgender people.
Miss Major showed up to court hearings and stood in solidarity with young trans people when Arkansas became the first state to ban gender-affirming medical care for trans youth in 2021.
A pillar in our community, Miss Major‘s lifetime of challenging work fundamentally changed and improved the lives of many Black, transgender and gender non-conforming folks in the South.
This tribute is written in concert with and inspired by and because of the priceless work of the House of gg.
A lifetime of fighting
Miss Major fought tirelessly for her people; her love was as vast and enduring as the universe she knew herself to be part of. She was a world–builder, a visionary and unwavering in her devotion to make freedom possible for Black, trans, formerly and currently incarcerated people, as well as the larger trans and LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Because of her, there are countless possibilities for all of us to thrive today and for generations to come. 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. We will forever honor her memory, her steadfast presence and her enduring commitment to our collective liberation.
“There will never be enough words to fully describe the impact Miss Major had on the LGBTQ+ people, on leaders across the movement, on those she loved and were touched by her work and her words,” National LGBTQ+ Task Force President Kierra Johnson said in a statement. “She was a revolutionary, a visionary, a legend, a foundational mother of our movement and our inspiration to Jesus, all those fighting for liberation. She was a sharp and unyielding truth teller.” (thetaskforce.org, Oct. 14)
According to Chase Strangio, co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s LGBTQ+ and HIV Project: “We will forever honor her memory, her steadfast presence and her enduring commitment to our collective liberation. There will never be enough words to fully describe the impact Miss Major had on LGBTQ+ people. And on leaders across the movement, on those she loved and were touched by her work and her words.”
Strangio added: “Miss Major ensured that we never lost touch with our history and that we believed in our power, regardless of the outcome of any election, any legislative debate or any court case. In her honor we will continue to fight for trans justice, not just in the legal battles we fight but through the love and care we bring to our communities and to the work she inspired.” (aclu.org, Oct. 14)
We urge all those who can attend — transgender, gay, lesbian and cisgender straight people — the memorial for Miss Major on Nov. 22 at Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive in New York City. The memorial is being sponsored by House of gg, Trans Liberation, Black Liberation Kitchen, G.L.I.T.S. Inc. (Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society) and others.
Miss Major, ¡Presente!
