On June 26, 2025, The International Imperial Court Council and the National LGBTQ Task Force will gather to add seven people to the historic Stonewall Inn’s Wall of Honor.
During Pride Month, The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor posthumously celebrates LGBTQ trailblazers, pioneers, and heroes that contributed to the success and progress of LGBTQ rights throughout their lives. The Wall of Honor highlights a diverse array of activists as candidates from all sectors of art, activism, and culture.
In its sixth year, the 2025 Wall of Honor inductees will only feature icons who identify as trans or nonbinary, recognizing what Cathy Renna, director of communications for the Task Force, calls the “current climate for our trans siblings.”
“As we continue to fiercely battle against attacks on our trans and nonbinary communities, we are honored to uplift their legacies. Their courage inspires our ongoing fight for liberation, both within the Task Force family and across every queer advocacy organization,” Renna added.
The decision comes during a time of anti-trans legislation in federal and local offices aims to eradicate the trans and nonbinary communities from public eye.
The honoring comes during a dangerous series of anti-trans legislation on the federal and state level, aiming to eradicate trans and nonbinary communities from public eye. So far in 2025, The Trans Legislation Tracker has noted 859 current anti-trans bills in American politics, with 83 passed and 49 failed. There are 36 anti-trans bills on the national level, with Texas topping the list at 127 current active bills.
Uplifting recent transcestors of the movement is also a dedication to the trans and nonbinary icons such as Marsha P. Johnson and Slyvia Rivera, a Black trans woman who were both prominent in the 1969 Stonewall uprising.
“A community -indeed, a movement- that does not know where it came from or whose shoulders it stands on does not really know where it’s going. In these times, when there are radical and extreme campaigns trying to erase our transgender community, the Imperial Courts and Task Force are reminding us all that transgender people have not only always been here, but have also been some of our community’s most dedicated activists and leaders,” said Nicole Murray Ramirez, founder of the Wall of Honor, city commissioner in San Diego, and Queen Mother of the Americas, Titular Head of The Imperial Court System.
This year’s Wall of Honor honorees are as follows:
Ruddys Martinez: “Mami Ruddys” was the matriarch of Puerto Rico’s LGBTQIA+ community. She was a pioneering drag artist, activist, and trans woman who, since the 1980s, opened her home to nurture, shelter, and empower young queer people rejected by their families. Education and care in her home were fundamental, making her a beloved figure and steadfast advocate for the island’s LGBTQIA+ youth.
Chilli Pepper is best known for her 80s appearances on talk shows like Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey to discuss life as a trans woman and debunking harmful stereotypes about the trans and queer community at-large. She was also a fierce activist, largely revered for her AIDS awareness activism.
Lynn Conway was an electrical engineer, computer scientist and transgender activist who blended both science and equality together as a trailblazing innovator and activist. While facing discrimination as a transgender woman in the STEM field, she created a simplified method of microchips design and co-developed the Very Large-Scale Integration (VSI) design.
Alan L. Hart, a physicist, novelist and writer is considered one of the very first people to receive gender affirming surgery and identify and live as a man. Hart moved to Oregon and attended medical school after the typhoid epidemic in 1912 and earn high honors in each school department and contributed to tuberculosis research.
Jiggly Caliente: Bianca Castro-Arabejo, formerly known as Jiggly Caliente died at 44 on April 27, 2025. The Filipino-American drag queen rose to acclaimed fame in season four of RuPaul’s Drag Race and also starred in sixth season of RuPaul’s All Star. She served as a resident judge of Drag Race Philippines and starred in FX Pose as the reoccurring character and ballroom performer Veronica Ferocity.
The Lady Chablis: also known as The Doll or The Grand Empress, is Lady Chablis is a famous transgender performer, actress and entertainer. The performer’s first strike of fame was in her self-portrayal in John Berendt’s Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil, a nonfiction book turned film that highlights the underground nightlife of Savannah, Georgia through the eyes of antiques collector and dealer Jim Williams. The Lady Chablis was also featured in the film’s press run, as she won over audiences with her authentic representation as a Black trans woman in entertainment, media, film, through her lovable charisma and vibrant spirit.
Sam Nordquist was a Black trans man that was tortured for nearly three months before being found dead in Hopewell, NY in February 2025. After numerous attempts to report Nordquist missing for two months, his mother filed a report to local police in Canandaigua, NY. By then, seven people had tortured, abused, and assaulted Nordquist from December to February. His death mobilized the community and amplified the on-going epidemic of violence in the trans community.
In 2019, the first year to celebrate the Wall of Honor, 50 names were added to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. Those selected this year will join a growing list of diverse changemakers such as Audre Lorde, Leslie Jordan and Gloria Allen.
Family and friends will join the Task Force and Imperial Court in honoring their loved ones induction into the Wall of Honor. The ceremony will take place on the last Thursday of Pride month to christen the final weekend of celebrations in New York City. The event is free, open to the public, and RSVP is required for the event.
