10 Black Trans* Activists You Should Know
February is Black History Month. This is a time for us all to reflect on the impact, history, and present change agents that have made America what it is today, and to observe how they are shaping the world for the future. Truth be known, every month is a good time for us to educate ourselves about the contributions, experiences, and narratives of Black people in America.
Most Black History Month articles will showcase a few “novelty” Black History Makers, and speak briefly on the pain and suffering that an entire group of people had to go through to be where they are today. Some might highlight the founding Civil Rights leaders, some may discuss activists of today, but few will mention the trans* people who are fighting, and have fought, for Black LGBTQ+ rights.
There is still a long way to go before LGBTQ+ rights include all races and nationalities. The conversation and faces of this movement are still very much whitewashed. I would like to take the time to thank the following 10 Black Trans* activists who are instrumental to the LGBTQ+ community and to honor the work they have done to make sure that it’s not only white LGBTQ+ people who are safe.
Cece McDonald
Cece is an activist who brought national attention to the discrimination and violence imposed on trans women of color. McDonald was assaulted in an anti-trans, anti-black hate crime in 2012 and was subsequently imprisoned for defending herself. She was forced to serve her 41-month sentence in a male prison. Since then, she has sought to unveil the structural violence and discrimination imposed on trans women of color.
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
Miss Major is an activist, Stonewall veteran, and community leader for the rights of transgender people of color. She has fought for Black liberation and abolition and served as the Executive Director for the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project, which helps trans folks in the carceral system, in which they are disproportionately impacted. She now runs House of GG’s, a safe haven and retreat house for the transgender community in Arkansas. Learn more about Miss Major through her documentary here.
Patricio “Pat” Manuel (also known as “Cacahuate”)
Pat is a professional male boxer who has shaped his masculine identity in boxing gyms since 2002. Before transitioning publicly, he was a five-time national amateur boxing champion and participated in the first-ever U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Women’s Boxing in 2012. In 2015, he became the first visible transgender boxer and the most decorated amateur boxer to change gender divisions within USA Boxing. In 2016, he became the first transgender man to beat a cisgender man in the amateur male division. In September 2018, he made history again when he became the first transgender boxer to compete in a professional boxing match in the U.S. and win.
Marsha “Pay it No Mind” Johnson (1945–1992)
Marsha was a force behind the Stonewall Riots and surrounding activism that sparked a new phase of the LGBTQ+ movement in 1969. She established the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) in 1970, which committed to supporting transgender youth experiencing homelessness in New York City. Marsha P. Johnson was tragically murdered on July 6, 1992 at the age of forty-six. Her case was originally closed by the NYPD as an alleged suicide, but many fought for it to be reopened for investigation in 2012. Marsha P. Johnson is now one of the most venerated icons in LGBTQ+ history.
Sir Lady Java
Sir Lady Java protested L.A.’s notorious Rule №9, which made cross-dressing illegal. She joined the ACLU to argue that the law was unconstitutional and took away her income as a “woman impersonator” at a local bar. Even though her legal challenge ultimately failed, Java’s story received national attention, particularly from African American and queer publications, which likely played a factor in such laws eventually being overturned.
LaSaia Wade
LaSaia co-founded the Tennessee Trans Journey Project, a community-led funding initiative founded in 2012 to support grassroots, trans justice groups run by and for trans people. In 2016, Wade and a small group of other Black trans individuals launched the Black TGNC (trans, gender non-conforming) Collective. In 2016, the Chicago-based activist group staged a direct action at the intersections of Belmont and Halsted in Chicago’s famously recognized queer neighborhood. The event was to honor TT Saffore, a Black Trans woman killed on Chicago’s West Side.
The following year, Wade went on to co-found The Trans Liberation collective, which staged one of the largest trans-led protests in Chicago to date. She also launched Brave Space Alliance (BSA), a Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ nonprofit designed to create and provide affirming and culturally competent services for the entire LGBTQ community of Chicago.
Kylar Broadus
Kylar, who transitioned more than 20 years ago, is an attorney who focuses on LGBTQ+ law and transgender rights. He is the founder and director of the Trans People of Color Coalition, the only national organization dedicated to the civil rights of transgender people of color, and the co-founder of the Transgender Law and Policy Institute. He is the first transgender American to testify before the U.S. Senate in favor of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act.
Kortney Ryan Ziegler
Kortney is an award-winning artist, writer, and the first person to hold a PhD of African American Studies from Northwestern University. He is the director of the documentary Still Black: A Portrait of Black Transmen, runs the GLAAD Media Award-nominated blog blac (k) ademic, and was named one of the Top 40 Under 40 LGBT activists by The Advocate Magazine and one of the most influential African Americans of 2013 by TheRoot100. Dr. Ziegler is also the founder of Trans*H4CK: the only tech event of its kind that spotlights trans-created tech and trans-led startups.
Zahara Green
Zahara is the Founder and Executive Director of TRANScending Barriers Atlanta, a trans-led, trans-issue- focused non-profit organization whose mission is to empower the transgender and gender non-conforming community in Georgia through community organizing with leadership building, advocacy, and direct services so that lives can be changed and a community uplifted. Zahara is a board director and board treasurer of Black & Pink Inc, a prison abolitionist organization supporting LGBTQ and HIV-positive prisoners.
Angelica Ross
Angelica has recently come into the spotlight as one of the stars of the web series Her Story. But she is also the founding CEO of TransTech Social Enterprises, a nonprofit that provides training and employment for transgender people. From the boardroom to film sets to the White House, Angelica Ross is a leading figure of success and strength in the movement for trans and racial equality. Named “1st Foot Soldier of the Year” in 2015 by Melissa Harris-Perry, Angelica has dedicated her life to giving voices and opportunities to the trans* and nonbinary communities.
