Feb 5, 2019

Miss Major: Celebrating a mother of our movement

February is Black History Month. Equality NC is utilizing this time of year to uplift a handful of black LGBTQ visionaries who have been instrumental in the fight for justice and queer liberation. Without individuals like Miss Major, in many ways a living embodiment of the LGBTQ rights movement, we wouldn’t be able to engage in the work that we do in North Carolina every single day. A black, transgender woman present at The Stonewall Inn the night of the 1969 riots, Miss Major is a community elder in the truest sense of the word. In the years since Stonewall she’s straddled the identities of organizer, activist, prison abolitionist and sex worker, having always fought for the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community -- particularly incarcerated transgender individuals.

Her tireless efforts not only raise visibility surrounding the violence and discrimination that trans people face, but she’s helped shift our culture towards a place where many transgender and gender non-conforming people can safely thrive in the public spotlight today.

“I just want to make sure that things are better, and not just for me and my folk, but for everybody.” --Miss Major

Equality NC is built upon the legacy of countless LGBTQ people of color, like Miss Major, who have dedicated their lives to fighting for the most vulnerable Americans. We honor and celebrate them this month and every day, just as we have for the past 40 years.