03/31/2022
To commemorate International Trans Day of Visibility, Women of Influence would like to highlight a few of the many incredible and inspirational Trans activists🏳️⚧️
Marsha P. Johnson was an American gay liberation activist and self-identified drag queen. Marsha was an outspoken advocate for gay rights, one of the prominent figures in the infamous Stonewall uprising. After Stonewall, Johnson continued her activist work and co-founded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) House with Sylvia Rivera to offer support and shelter to young, transgender and gender non-conforming people who were living on the streets.
Like Marsha, Sylvia Rivera was also a prominent figure of the Stonewall Uprising and credited with being one of the first to confront the police. Rivera continued to be a strong voice for transgender people of color, and she continuously spoke out against systemic poverty, racism, homophobia, and gender discrimination.
Renee Richards was a professional US tennis player was breaking ground for trans rights in the 1970s. When she was denied entry into the 1976 U.S. Open she sued (and won!) the United States Tennis Association, the Women's Tennis Association, and the United States Open Committee for her right to compete as a woman.
Jaqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy , known for her stage name Coccinelle, she was a French actress, club singer, and activist. Her transition was one of the first widely-publicized gender confirmation cases in Europe. After a career as an entertainer Coccinelle became an activist, and founded “Devenir Femme” (To Become Woman), which provided support for those seeking gender confirmation surgery, and helped establish the Center for Aid, Research, and Information for Transsexuality and Gender Identity.
Lucy Hicks Anderson was an early pioneer in the fight for marriage equality when she became the first trans person to go to court to fight for her rights. While defending her marriage to Reuben Anderson in court, Lucy stated, “I defy any doctor in the world to prove that I am not a woman. I have lived, dressed, acted just like what I am, a woman."
