FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LGBTQ Icons Miss Major, Barbara Gittings, Luisa Rivera Added
May 5 – WASHINGTON DC – On June 25, the LGBTQ+ community will gather for the annual Wall of Honor ceremony, a tribute to LGBTQ+ trailblazers who have passed on and have made significant contributions to LGBTQ+ politics, art, culture and more.
Founded by the International Imperial Court System in 2019, and supported by the National LGBTQ Task Force, seven names will be added to the Wall of Honor to pay tribute to their contributions to the LGBTQ+ movement.
“Now more than ever when we have a presidential administration that is trying to erase the histories of many of our communities the International LGBTQ Stonewall Wall of Honor’s annual ceremonies at the historic Stonewall Inn are a reminder that a community that does not know where it came and indeed whose shoulders it stands on does not really know where its going,” stated City Commissioner Nicole Murray Ramirez co-founder of the Wall of Honor and the titular leader of the International Imperial Court Council.
“This year, we continue to highlight changemakers who have passed on and hold on a special place in both LGBTQ+ community’s hearts and culture. This is a very personal year for the Task Force, with the addition of Miss Major, whose fierce demand for LGBTQ+ livelihood inspired generations of activists with her participation in the Stonewall Uprising and founding the House of GG. These honorees were mentors, inspirations, and guiding lights for so many of us, and their presence through the Wall of Honor will stand testament to than and offer visitors of the historic Stonewall Inn the chance to learn about all the individuals on the wall – including names they may not be familiar with,” said Cathy Renna, Task Force Director of Communications and leader of the Wall of Honor presentation.
During the ceremony, the history of each honoree is shared, describing their personal background and impact within the LGBTQ+ community.
Wall of 2026 Honorees
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a LGBTQ+ trans icon whose activism begins as a Stonewall Uprising participant, is one of this year’s honorees. A pioneer, Griffin-Gracy’s left behind a legacy that empowered generations as her work spanned in New York, San Diego, and The Bay Area.
Her work was centered in the advancement of the transgender community, along with work in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and work with the City of Refuge in San Fransico. Griffin-Gracy was the first executive director of the Transgender Gender Variant Intersex Justice Program.
She shared her vivacious personality through her documentary “Major!” (2015) and her nonfiction book “Miss Major Speaks.” Before her death on October 13, 2025, Griffin-Gracy’s was the founder and executive director of House of GG. Located in Little Rock, Arkansas, the organization is a support hub for transgender people of color who live in the South.
In addition to Ms. Major, six people are members of the 2026 Wall of Honor.
Luisa Rivera
Luisa Rivera was an activist whose work centered trans visibility, sex workers rights, and HIV resources for the LGBTQ+ community throughout California. Born in Mexico, Rivera’s story centered immigrant rights activism with a deep commitment to preventing HIV and eradicating substance abuse issues. As a Health Policy Research Scholar, Rivera’s movement contributions include research on Guatemala’s Mayan villages post-conflict and the health outcomes of pregnant people in San Franciso’s hospitals amongst gentrification.
She championed many trans initiatives throughout San Franciso such as the establishing of the Office of Transgender Initiatives to center voices of trans and gender non-confirming folks in San Fransico in the name of equity and legislation. Rivera also led the “Marcha de las putas” San Francisco’s SlutWalk and was a member of the Decriminalize Sex Work California Coalition and policy and education co-chair of the HIV Advocacy Network. Before her death at 68, Rivera contributed to the oral history of trans migrants, and the details surrounding the trans queer liberation through their work.
Soraya Santiago Sollo
Puerto Rican trans activist and beautician Soraya Santiago is an icon of the LGBTQ+ movement as the island’s first person to transition, change their gender on their birth certificate, and complete gender reassignment surgery.
Santiago’s activism was inspired by the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. After her gender-affirming surgeries in New York, Santiago returned to Puerto Rico and empowered generations of queer, trans communities. She became the very first LGBTQ+ member of the Puerto Rico’s New Progressive Party and was the first trans candidate to ever run for leadership in 2008. While politically involved, she owned a hair salon, Soraya Hair Designers, and participated in transliberation movements through various appearances. She’s described her life in documentaries like Mala Mala in 2014 and published an autobiography Heca a mano: disforia de genero [Hand Made: Gender Dysphoria] that same year. She died of cancer at 77 years old in Puerto Rico and is survived by her son, Eddie whom she adopted in the 1990s.
Barbara Gittings:
Gittings’ work amplified LGBTQ+ voices, agency, and literature into the mainstream, starting her career as an activist as a founding member of the oldest lesbian civil rights organization, Daughters of Bilitis. Gittings was the editor of their controversial magazine The Ladder, which circulated through New York, Philadelphia, and New York City. Topics varied from satire on lesbianism, challenging the idea of homosexuality as a sickness, and civil liberties. Gittings worked closely with fellow activist Frank Kameny to fight against anti-LGBTQ employment discrimination.
During the seventies, Gittings played a role in the movement for the American Psychiatric Association to renounce labeling homosexuality as a mental illness in their Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Gittings is also an foremother of The Task Force, serving on its first class of board of directors in 1973. She died on February 18, 2007.
Rick Garcia
Garcia was a LGBTQ+ activist whose work centered civil rights and religious inclusion. A St. Louis native, Garcia’s first organizing opportunity came with Missouri’s chapter of United Farm Workers. In 1980, Garcia joined Dignity, a gay Catholic group, and then relocated to Washington DC to expand his efforts through the LGBTQ+ Catholic group, New Ways Ministry.
Garcia’s work centered Chicago’s religious sphere, uniting the Roman Catholic Church and local LGBTQ+ organizations to support rights. In 1986, Garcia moved to Chicago where he championed a city ordinance that prohibited sexual-orientation discrimination.
He co-founded the Illinois chapter of the Equality Federal, leading their work in protections against discrimination and same-sex marriage. Garcia was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 1999. He died on January 12, 2026 at the age of 69.
Loraine Hutchins
Loraine Hutchins was a bisexual author, sex educator, and activist whose work specified bisexual rights in the LGBTQ+ movement through erotic, environmental and economic justice. Hutchins’ work zeroed in conducting research and co-editing the 1991 book “Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out” with fellow bisexual activist Lani Kaahumanu. Hutchins also established the BiNet USA network that connected bisexuals both locally and nationally. She continued her work in LGBTQ+ education, becoming a professor at Montogomery College in Rockville, Maryland.
Hutchins’ work in peer-reviewed journals include publications like Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality, The Journal of Bisexual, and the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Issues In Education. Her death at 77 was announced on November 25.
Chuck Renslow
Chuck Renslow was a gay civil rights activist and a founding father in the leather community. Considered a pioneer in homoerotic photography, Renslow began publishing male physique magazines with the help of his studio Kris Studio. His magazines would be used for gay rights advocacy and fundraising as Renslow’s political action with Democratic Party ramped up in the seventies.
He and his partner Dom Orejudos hosted the International Mr. Leather contest at their leather bar Gold Coast, the first event taking place in 1979. Gold Coast is referred to be the oldest leather bar in the world, sparking international attendees for the leather contest and generating nearly $10 million in Chicago tourism revenue.
Renslow’s activism propelled him into civil rights work in Chicago as he began working in state politics around anti-discrimination laws that protected gay and lesbian communities. While CEO of the Renslow Family Enterprises, Renslow maintained his presence throughout the movement as a member of the Illinois Gay and Lesbian Take Force, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Strike Against AIDS.
He was inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame in 1991 and died on June 29, 2017.
More Information:
Wall of Honor is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. Tickets for Wall of Honor at the Stonewall Inn are limited. Please contact Cathy Renna or Nicole Ramirez-Murray for additional information about securing a spot at the commemorative event. A livestream capturing Wall of Honor will be available on The Task Force’s social platforms.
