A living legend both inside and outside of Ballroom culture, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy is a mother, elder, community leader, human rights activist, and organizer.
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1940s and coming out as a Queer person in the 50s came with challenges.
At the age of sixteen, she graduated from high school and attended college. “And I got kicked out of college for wearing dresses. And went back to Chicago. Then I tried to go to another college and ugh, couldn’t get along with anybody down there.”
According to Griffin-Gracy, crossdressing in Chicago was illegal and could land the “gurls” in a psychiatric institution.
“Because they didn’t put us in jail at that time. They felt that if you were a different gendered person in an attire that didn’t suit your birth gender, then you were a crazy person,” she said.
Despite ostracization and possible violence, Griffin-Gracy continued to find herself. She credits the transwomen in her adolescence that taught her to boldly walk in her womanhood.
She recalls that the very first category she participated in at a Chicago ball was titled “Walk.”
“Going to the balls and hanging out with friends was comfortable. However, being in high school and having to run from boys or be chased home or not get a chance to go out individually by myself because of how I presented was kind of difficult. But Chicago was a good place to be, a lot of Jazz clubs, a lot of interesting people, and things going on,” she said in an interview with Shadrach Kabango, formerly of Q.
As a living legend who was a part of the Stonewall Inn Uprising, a survivor of Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Dannemora Prison (Clinton Correctional Facility), Attica State Prison, and Bellevue Hospital, Griffin-Gracy’s life shows courage, love, community care, and resiliency.
Policing and incarceration in LGBTQIA+ Communities
In the 20th century, Black queer people endured demonization and criminalization from law enforcement. Oftentimes, police would raid LGBTQIA+ bars and clubs and harass patrons. Sometimes even arrest them and place them in jail.
According to a national survey by The Conversation, “LGBTQ people are more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, and held in custody than non-LGBTQ people. Just under 15% of non-LGBTQ respondents had experienced this kind of police-initiated contact in the past year, compared with 21% of LGBTQ people and 33% of transgender respondents.”
Griffin-Gracy explained that in the 1960s, the nation normalized police brutality and harassment against People of Color, especially Transgender people.
This was no different during the night of the Stonewall Riot when the NYPD arrived in Greenwich Village.
She described the uprising’s start as a divinely aligned feeling in the air and throughout the atmosphere. “When we were outside the bar fighting the police, we were kicking their behinds and hearing people across the street cheering,” she said.
Transgender women and queer people of color like Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Stormé DeLarverie, and Miss Major Griffin-Gracy survived the riots.
“When most of us came out as transgender women, we burnt the house down so there’s no closet to go back to and they’re gonna have to deal with that,” she said.
In addition, 1969 included dozens of Black and Latino student protests. Their plight included inclusive education, improved economic and schooling conditions, and being against racism and the Vietnam War.
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy’s Advocacy and Activism
Griffin-Gracy had an innate passion for helping trans women of color. “I always cared about the gurls earlier due to the fact that we were getting murdered so much and nobody seemed to care,” she said.
Due to discrimination, abuse, and scrutiny, trans women in the 20th century often made their money in unorthodox fashions. In most cases, trans women of color received fewer resources and faced ongoing challenges and struggles to receive help.
While in solitary confinement at Dannemora Prison, she met one of the organizers of the Attica Prison Riots. Frank “Big Black” Smith helped Griffin-Gracy politicize her advocacy work.
She shared how he encouraged and enlightened her on how to advocate and navigate for incarcerated trans women of color.
Trans women often dealt with violence, harassment, and sexual assault while incarcerated.
“When you’re fighting like that and you’re at the grassroots level, you don’t see what’s above you. You don’t know what can happen from what you’re doing [and] where you are,” she said.
Griffin-Gracy’s advocacy work extended beyond her incarceration.
She later drove San Francisco’s first needle exchange bus and facilitated the Transgender Drop-In Center at TARC. She also became the director of the Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP) in San Francisco.
“Having the information is way more important than not having it. Because once you know, you can negotiate your life from then on,” she said.
The gurls describe Miss Major Griffin-Gracy as a pioneer, advocating for the most vulnerable. They also express that she always extends a hand with food, housing, informal counseling, and more.
The legacy of Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
Griffin-Gracy wants transgender women of color to fully embrace who they are and take care of each other.
She understands that transmisogynoir holds intersections that are unique to Black trans women, which requires intentional and exceptional care.
Contemporary transgender writers and activists like Raquel Willis, Janet Mock, and the CEO of TGIJP, Janetta Johnson, credit Griffin-Gracy as a major influence on their work.
Griffin-Gracy is also an advocate for prison abolition and reforming the system. “They arrest us, and where do they think they’re gonna put us? A long time ago, it was mental hospitals. In New York, it was Bellevue; in Chicago, it was Cook County. People don’t need those things—they need health care, a place to live, to work and grow, where they can go and be themselves,” she said.
As an elder in her 80s, Griffin-Gracy is the founder and leader of The House of gg Journey. It’s a family gathering healing space that, “focuses on supporting and nurturing the leadership of Transgender women and men of color living in the U.S. South.”
In addition, her book “Miss Major Speaks: Conversations with a Black Trans Revolutionary,” and documentary “Major!” share some of Griffin-Gracy’s most intimate moments and thoughts throughout her monumental life.
“I need to keep doing what I’m doing because there are other young girls out there who need to know they come from a history. That this didn’t start with Janet Mock and Laverne Cox, this has been years in the making. We’re in the Bible and we’ve been here since time began.”