The inductions for this year’s class of the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor were announced Monday and include a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum and a trans man who was violently killed. In fact, all of this year’s inductees are deceased transgender trailblazers and changemakers, and were selected in light of the ongoing federal attacks against the trans community, according to the National LGBTQ Task Force and the Imperial Court, which oversee the memorial inside the Stonewall Inn in New York City.
The induction ceremony will be held Thursday, June 26, ahead of Pride weekend in the Big Apple. The Stonewall Inn was the site of the pivotal 1969 uprising that gave birth to the modern LGBTQ rights movement. It is part of the Stonewall National Monument, overseen by the National Park Service. Earlier this year, the words “transgender” and “queer” were removed from the park service’s Stonewall monument’s web page.
“This year’s focus on transgender trailblazers and changemakers underscores the importance of recognizing our history and the current climate for our trans siblings,” stated Cathy Renna, communications director of the National LGBTQ Task Force. “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.”
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, emphasized, “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,” Murray Ramirez added.
This year’s inductees are:
Ruddy “Mami Ruddys” Martinez, who was the matriarch of Puerto Rico’s LGBTQIA+ community. A pioneering drag artist, activist, and trans woman who, in the 1980s, started opening her home to nurture, shelter, and empower young queer people rejected by their families. Martinez died in 2023 of complications from diabetes.
Chili Pepper was best known for her appearances in the 1980s on talk shows starring 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. She died in 2024.
Lynn Conway was an electrical engineer and computer scientist 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 design. Conway died in 2024.
Alan L. Hart was a physicist, novelist, and writer. He is considered to be 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. He later earned a master’s degree in public health from Yale University. He contributed to tuberculosis research as director of hospitalization and rehabilitation for the Connecticut State Tuberculosis Commission. He died in 1962.
Jiggly Caliente, aka Bianca Castro-Arabejo, died at 44 on April 27, following complications of a severe infection that led to the amputation of most of her right leg, according to her family. The Filipino American drag queen rose to acclaimed fame in season four of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and also starred in the sixth season of “RuPaul’s All Stars.” She served as a resident judge of Drag Race Philippines and starred as Veronica Ferocity in FX’s “Pose.”
The Lady Chablis, aka The Doll or The Grand Empress, was 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 that was made into a 1997 film of the same name 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, and film through her lovable charisma and vibrant spirit. She died in 2016.
Sam Nordquist was a Black trans man who was tortured for nearly three months before being found dead in Hopewell, New York in February. After numerous attempts to report Nordquist missing for two months, Nordquist’s mother filed a report to local police in Canandaigua, New York in February. By then, seven people had allegedly tortured, abused, and assaulted Nordquist. His death mobilized the community and amplified the on-going epidemic of violence in the trans community. Seven suspects have been charged with first-degree murder and have pleaded not guilty.
The National LGBTQ Wall of Honor was inaugurated in 2019 with 50 names to mark the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. Each year, additional honorees are added, joining a memorial of LGBTQ legends such as Leslie Jordan, Gloria Allen, and Terrence McNally. The late former San Francisco drag artist Heklina, aka Stefan Grygelko, was added in 2023, just a couple of months after her death.
To register to attend the ceremony, click here
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