Black History Month

February is Black History Month! To celebrate we’re highlighting some black historical figures who are important to the transgender community!

First is Lucy Hicks Anderson, born in 1886, who was a Black Trans chef, socialite, and prohibition-era entrepreneur. From a young age, she advocated for her needs and identity as a woman. After marrying her first husband and moving to Oxnard, California, she became a prominent member of her community. Utilizing her skills as an event planner and amazing chef she made extravagant events for outward bound soldiers and churches, then used the earnings to become a philanthropist. During her second marriage, due to a venereal disease outbreak in her Brothel, doctors and officials came to examine sex-workers and demanded the same of Anderson. She became the first Trans Woman and first Black American Trans Woman, to defend her identity in court, saying “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman. I have lived, dressed, and acted just what I am—a woman.”

Next is Audre Lorde, born in 1934. Audre Lorde, as self-described in her published work, was a “Black, Lesbian, Feminist, Mother, and Poet Warrior”. Through her poetry, essays, lectures, and work she gave commentary on mainstream (White) exclusionary feminism. She believed the oversimplification of binary-gender ignored the “issues of race, class, age and ageism, sex and sexuality and, later in her life, chronic illness and disability” fundamental to her experience of being a woman. Her voice laid important groundwork for our modern understanding of the complexities of intersectionality within Transgender community.

Next is Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, born in 1940. Miss Major is a Transgender activist whose leadership can be traced back to Stonewall. She has worked in various issue areas including providing direct service relief to the trans community, helping fight the AIDS epidemic of the 80’s in California, and served as the Executive Director of the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Project, an orginaization focused on providing support to incarcerated transgender people, especially transgender women of color.

Next is Marsha P. Johnson, born in 1945. Marsha is best known today for her involvement in the Stonewall Riots, fighting back against the criminalization of queer and trans individuals and the routine police brutality that was born from it. She helped found groups like the Gay Liberation Front and S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries)- groups that did groundbreaking work in providing community support and advocating for the lives and liberties for trans people. At the time, the LGBQ+ community at large was still fighting against the inclusion of Trans people in the Gay Liberation Movement. Despite that, she still marched in the first Gay Pride Rally and organized protests for the Gay Liberation Front. Marsha was also an advocate for sex workers. Alongside Stonewall veteran and S.T.A.R. co-founder Sylvia Rivera, they would use the profits of their own work to provide for the people who lived at their shelter, S.T.A.R. House.

Our next is Andrea Jenkins, born in 1961. In 2018, Andrea Jenkins became the first ever Black Trans woman to be elected to public office in America. Jenkins has worked within local government since the 1980s before running for office and is also the curator of of the Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota's Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection. She currently serves as the City Council’s Vice President 

Our final is Texas local Monica K. Roberts, born in 1962. Monica K. Roberts was the Trans Griot (the term “Griot” is given to a keeper of history in West African culture). Her journalistic abilities helped elevate the standard of how Transgender people are reported about in the media. One of the purposes of her blog, TransGriot, was to accurately archive trans history and report trans stories with respect and decency, something mainstream media has only recently begun.

We hope everyone takes the opportunity this month to take a deeper dive into history and learn more about the legacies of pioneers in Black history, Trans history, and Black Trans history.