Founder and Co-Executive Director of Programs at the New York Transgender Advocacy Group, Kiara St. James was a tireless activist who helped push the passage of NY State’s Gender Expression Nondiscrimination Act (GENDA) and advocated for funding of trans-led community-based organizations and PrEP/HIV treatment campaigns centered on Black and Brown TGNB New Yorkers. She also worked with other activists to end a New York City loitering law known as the “walking while trans” law, as trans women were disproportionately targeted.

Kiara’s vision encompassed liberation, dignity, and creating real pathways for trans, gender nonconforming, nonbinary, and intersex communities to thrive. Through her leadership, she built a movement rooted in love, resilience, and collective power. Kiara passed away in May 2026; New York Governor Kathy Hochul echoed the feelings of many in her statement, “I was proud to know her and to fight alongside her. She will be dearly missed.”

Octavia Y. Lewis is recognized as an activist, advocate, humanitarian, mother, and scholar. She currently serves as Interim Program Manager at the Transgender Law Center, where she supports the National Advisory Board of Positively Trans, the first national advisory board established by and for transgender individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Ms. Lewis possesses a deep understanding of the complexities and intersectionalities within society and is committed to advancing the interests of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Her dedication is evident through her roles as board member of both the National Advisory Board for Positively Trans and the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health at UC San Francisco. She previously served as a member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women–Manhattan Chapter and as a Board Member of Positive Women’s Network USA.

Jahaira Gonzalez is a proud Afro-Latina, native Puerto Rican transgender woman from the Bronx, New York, and a dedicated community advocate with over a decade of service. As Director of Outreach & Prevention Services at Destination Tomorrow, The Bronx LGBTQ Center, she leads initiatives focused on HIV prevention, sexual health education, and community.

In addition to her outreach work, Jahaira manages a food pantry and clothing distribution program supporting individuals facing food insecurity and provides Narcan training to help combat the opioid crisis in New York City. She is deeply committed to helping people navigate and access essential services, working to remove barriers and ensure others do not experience the hardships she faced growing up. Through her work, Jahaira continues to uplift, educate, and empower marginalized communities.

Congresswoman Sarah McBride was elected to Congress in November 2024 and represents the state of Delaware as its sole member of the House of Representatives, becoming the first openly transgender person elected to Congress. Congresswoman McBride was the first transgender state Senator in U.S. history, serving the First State Senate District of Delaware from 2020 to 2025. She has worked as a public servant and advocate for decades.

As a state senator, McBride distinguished herself as a leading health advocate by expanding access to care and strengthening public health systems, including passing the landmark Healthy Delaware Families Act, providing paid family and medical leave, and the Protect Medicaid Act of 2024.

For over 20 years, Asha Lyons has dedicated her career to supporting marginalized communities through social work, public health, research, and anti violence advocacy. A trans woman of Latin and Caribbean descent, she brings a trauma informed, anti oppressive, and gender affirming approach to her role as the Licensed Social Worker for the Gender Affirmation Program (GAP) at VNS Health, where she supports trans and nonbinary patients post-gender affirmation surgery. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Bronx LGBTQ Task Force, at the office of Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, continuing her commitment to advocacy and community empowerment.

Janet Mock is a writer, television producer, and transgender rights activist. Her 2014 memoir “Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More,” which follows her journey as a transgender girl and young woman in Hawaii, became a New York Times bestseller. She co-produced “The Trans List” for HBO in 2016, before becoming a writer, director and producer for FX’s “Pose.” The first trans woman of color hired as a writer for a TV series, Mock was also the first trans woman of color to write and direct any television episode.

Mock has also worked as a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight, a contributing editor for Marie Claire, and a host for MSNBC. She started the social media campaign #GirlsLikeUs in 2012 to empower transgender women and joined the board of directors at the Arcus Foundation a year later to advocate for LGBTQ rights.

Mock has been honored by the Ms. Foundation, Planned Parenthood, Feminist Press, and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, among other organizations. Her name has been featured on multiple lists including TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.”

Admiral Rachel Levine, MD, is the highest-ranking openly transgender government official in U.S. history, serving as the 17th Assistant Secretary for Health from March 2021 to 2025, under President Joe Biden. In 2021, Dr. Levine was commissioned as a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, becoming the first openly transgender four-star officer in any of the U.S. uniformed services. Her clinical and public health work has helped people dealing with a range of medical issues, including eating disorders, the opioid crisis, and COVID-19. She is vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ youth, emphasizing that gender-affirming care is essential, life-saving healthcare.

Dr. Levine previously served as the Pennsylvania physician general from 2015 to 2017 and as secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health from 2017 to 2021.

Born in Buffalo, Peggie Ames (1921 – 2000) transitioned in the early 1970s and was the first publicly out transgender person in Western New York State. She joined Mattachine Society of the Niagara Frontier (MSNF), a local offshoot of the pre-Stonewall gay rights group of the same name, and was the organization’s secretary in 1973-1974. Ames participated in MSNF’s peer counselor training program and organized panels on transgenderism for Buffalo’s annual Gay Pride Week.

Ames also ran an informal counseling service out of her Buffalo-area house, including transition-related guidance, and provided shelter for trans women in need of temporary living accommodations.  Though she faced great harassment, she was one of the few transgender individuals in Western New York willing to be out in public, and her physical presence helped to dispel common prejudices towards trans women.

Ames is one of the unacknowledged mothers of today’s Transgender Rights Movement.

Melissa Sklarz is the only transgender elected official in New York, representing the 30th AD in Queens. Currently, she is vice chair of the New York State Democratic Party and is the Secretary of the Queens Democratic Party. Melissa became the first trans member of the Electoral College in 2016.

Melissa served as Political Director of Equality NY and the past Government Relations Strategist for SAGE, advocating for LGBTQ seniors. In 2025, Melissa was among the LGBTQ leaders who advocated for and received a New York City budgeted grant of $13.725 million for trans equity and trans care, the largest public award for trans people in the nation.

Monica Roberts (1962 – 2020) was an icon and a trailblazing voice for transgender rights, both in her home state of Texas and around the country. In 2006, she founded TransGriot, a pioneering blog about issues pertaining to trans women, particularly women of color. Her coverage helped bring national attention to the alarming rates of transgender homicide, and she worked tirelessly to identify victims who were misgendered and deadnamed by the police and local media. Roberts also wrote for Ebony, the Huffington Post, The Advocate, and the Unapologetically Trans column in Out Smart Magazine.

Her many honors include the Glaad Media Award for outstanding blog, the Barbara Jordan Breaking Barriers Award, and the 2020 Susan J. Hyde Award for Longevity in the Movement.