Hey, fam, it's me Amara.

Welcome to the TransLash podcast, a show where we tell trans stories to save trans lives.

Well, we come today to you with a heavy heart.

As you may have heard, the legendary, iconic, and beloved activist,

Miss Major Griffin Gracie, has passed away. Miss Major was truly one of a kind, and she leaves

behind a world that she helped make better for each and every one of us. You know, some people serve as possibility models, while others create possibilities.

Miss Major was in the latter category.

Alongside Marsha P. Johnson and Silvo Rivetta, she dreamt of a world that would be open and free for trans people at a time when it didn't seem possible.

I, and so many other trans people, would not be where we are without her years of both toil and hope.

I feel so lucky to have met and spoken to her several times over the past few years,

including both for the Translash podcast and our political analysis podcast, the best.

And so, in honor of her truly magnificent life and legacy,

I wanted to bring you the first conversation that I had with Ms. Major on air just over two years ago.

In it, we talked about her experience in becoming a mother, the fight for trans rights over the last 50 years,

and her belief in better days ahead.

Now, while times are dark for trans people in the U.S. right now, in fact, no matter who you are in the entire country,

Ms. Major would insist that we keep hoping and we keep moving forward. So even as we mourn her

loss and in keeping with Ms. Major's lifelong commitment, we're going to start out, as always,

with some trans joy.

Many people have written about key moments of trans history, from the Compton's cafeteria

riot to Stonewall.

But it's not often that we get to hear about the past from the people who were at the front

...