An Afro-Latina transgender woman, Yanery Cruz (she/her) is the first-ever Executive Director of New York City Council’s LGBTQIA+ Caucus. In this role, Yanery leads the Caucus’ policy, budget, and advocacy efforts, helping advance a more coordinated and equitable agenda for LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers. Previously she served as Director of Advocacy and Programs at the New York Transgender Advocacy Group.
Cruz is a recipient of the Stonewall Democratic Club of NYC’s Defiant Award, speaking to the depth and importance of her vision and leadership.
As the founder of The Global Trans Equity Project and the National Director of Policy & Strategy for the National Trans Visibility March, Dr. Elijah works hard to dismantle stigma and transform systems through policy, research, and education.
His leadership and experience as a Black trans man uplifts the voices of TGNCNB+ people and inspires conscious love, inclusion, and joy.
Kei Williams (they/them) is The NEW Pride Agenda’s Executive Director as of April 2025, after serving as the organization’s Director of Programs since 2022. As a queer, transmasculine community organizer, artist, and historian, Kei has been shaping movements for over a decade, whether with the People’s Climate Movement, Rhize, or the Marsha P. Johnson Institute.
Their leadership reminds us that trans leadership is expansive, creative, and liberatory.
A veteran of the 1969 Stonewall Inn uprising, Sylvia Rivera was a tireless advocate for those silenced and disregarded by larger movements. Throughout her life, she fought against the exclusion of transgender people, especially transgender people of color, from the larger movement for gay rights. Along with Marsha P. Johnson, Rivera started the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a space to organize and discuss issues facing the trans community in NYC, and later founded Transy House in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
She died in 2002 at the age of 50. In 2015, a portrait of Rivera was added to the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., making her the first transgender activist to be included in the gallery.
One of the most prominent figures of the gay rights movement of 1960s and 1970s New York City, Marsha P. Johnson was an important advocate for homeless LGBTQ+ youth, those affected by HIV and AIDS, and gay and transgender rights. After fighting on the front lines of the Stonewall uprising in 1969, Marsha became an activist and co-founder (with Sylvia Rivera) of Street Transvestite Activist Revolutionaries (STAR), a place where young transpeople living on the street could feel safe.
She died in 1992 at the age of 46, under suspicious circumstances, a case that remains unsolved. In 2020, New York State named a waterfront park in Brooklyn after Marsha.
Born in El Salvador and a New Yorker for over 16 years, Denise Gutierrez is a fierce advocate for the transgender community. Her advocacy journey began in 2014, when she worked to empower Long Island’s trans community. Now the Program Manager of Community Healthcare Network’s Transgender Family Program, Denise has spent five years connecting TGNCNB people to the health care, legal services, and mental health support they need to thrive.
Her leadership is rooted in her commitment to inclusion, education, and fostering a supportive society for all.
With 25 years of experience in TGNC service provision, HIV prevention, advocacy, and community organizing, Cristina founded Translatina Network in 2007, which has become a vital resource for trans immigrant communities. Cristina has also been featured on numerous panels, committees, and boards. Before founding Translatina Network, Cristina spent over 11 years developing resources and programs for transgender people at The Center.
Her powerful advocacy work has been recognized by the NYC Health Department, the NYC City Council, the Queens Borough President, and more.
Tori Cooper wears many hats: HIV advocate, educator, and first Black trans woman appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. In 2021, she was recognized by POZ Magazine as one of 100 Top Black Advocates and The Advocate as one of its Advocates of the Year.
Tori Cooper’s bravery, authenticity, and fearlessness in her work towards trans rights and health care equity inspire us in our work every day.
Known for his leading roles in film and television (including “Juno,” “Inception,” “X Men: The Last Stand,” and “The Umbrella Academy”), and for his outspoken activism for LGBTQ+ rights, Elliot Page (he/they) became the first openly trans man to appear on the cover of Time magazine (2021).
His critically acclaimed memoir “Pageboy” is an intense, moving account of self-discovery, and his company, PageBoy Productions, makes films that champion underrepresented voices. Page has become a role model for young people both in and outside of Hollywood.
Sean Coleman is the founder of Destination Tomorrow, a LGBTQ+ center in the Bronx that provides services like job readiness, HIV testing, and emergency housing. In this interview, he describes growing up in Brooklyn with his grandmother and brother. At a young age, he became involved in the ballroom scene, a community which still provides most of his close relationships. Sean also discusses his spiritual identity, the changing landscape of hormone access, erasure of Black trans masculinity, and his start with grassroots organizing for the Bronx trans community in the early 2000s.
As the founder of Destination Tomorrow, Sean Coleman’s work shows us the importance of investing in and strengthening our communities so that we can unite and respond strategically to create positive change.