Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
Quinn Dombrowski, Miss Major, June 29, 2014. By Quinn Dombrowski – https://www.flickr.com/photos/quinnanya/14560270363, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35247133
This video was created by the New-York Historical Society Teen Leaders in collaboration with the Untold project.
Major Gracy was born in Chicago in the 1940s (she is unsure of her exact birth date). She grew up with her parents and her sister, Cookie. She added her mother’s maiden name, Griffin, as a tribute to her. She uses Miss Major as her first name.
Miss Major was assigned male at birth. But growing up, she always felt more like a female. Her parents thought it was just a phase and that she would eventually outwardly present herself as male.
Exploring her gender identity came gradually for Miss Major. When her mother was not at home, she would go into her mother’s closet and try on her clothes to look and feel like a woman. As a teenager, she met an older drag queen, named Kitty, who helped her dress up and taught her how to put on makeup. In that moment, Miss Major realized she was a transgender woman.
At the time, Miss Major used the term transsexual to describe herself. Transgender is a modern term that Miss Major and other trans Americans would not have used at the time. Interpretations of gender and sexuality continue to change over time for LGBTQ+ individuals and communities.
She slowly became more comfortable sharing how she truly felt about herself with her family. But being transgender was not commonly accepted at the time. It was difficult for her family to understand why Miss Major did not feel comfortable with her sex assigned at birth. Her sister Cookie even burned pictures of Miss Major. In public, Miss Major still dressed in men’s clothing.
Miss Major graduated from high school when she was 16 years old and enrolled in college. Because she still presented as male in public at the time, she lived in the men’s dorms. One day, her roommate found Miss Major’s dresses and he outed her to all the male students on the floor. They made fun of her, asking if she could cook. A week later, college staff packed up her belongings while she was in class and expelled her for wearing dresses.
After being expelled from another college for the same reason, Miss Major moved to New York City in 1962. She made money as a sex worker and considered it to be a profitable and pleasurable line of work.
In New York City, Miss Major got involved with drag shows and started performing as a showgirl. She found support in the local LGBTQ+ community, who accepted her for who she was. However, that was not the case for broader society. Drag queens traveled to the theater dressed as men and only put on their makeup once they arrived. Being transgender in public could lead to violent attacks. Police raids of drag shows and LGBTQ+ friendly bars were common.
The LGBTQ+ community pushed back against th