Raquel Willis (born 1990/1991) is an African American writer, editor, and

transgender rights The legal status of transgender people varies greatly around the world. Some countries have enacted laws protecting the rights of transgender individuals, but others have criminalized their gender identity or expression. In many cases, transg ...

activist. She is a former national organizer for the

Transgender Law Center The Transgender Law Center (TLC) is the largest American transgender-led civil rights organization in the United States. They were originally California's first "fully staffed, state-wide transgender legal organization" and were initially a fisca ...

and the former executive editor of ''Out'' magazine. Her memoir, ''The Risk It Takes To Bloom'', was published in November 2023. In 2020, Willis won the

GLAAD Media Award The GLAAD Media Award is a US accolade bestowed by GLAAD to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding portrayals of LGBTQ people and the issues that affect their lives. In addition to film and television, the Awards ...

for Outstanding Magazine Article. In 2025,

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

named Willis as a Woman of the Year, and as one of the 100 most influential people of the year.

Early life and education

Willis was born and raised in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. She grew up in a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family that encouraged

volunteerism Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

stewardship Stewardship is a practice committed to ethical value that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, places, property, information ...

, and giving back to the community. Her parents were both Sunday school teachers, and she attended church every weekend. As a child, Willis "was very conflicted" over her gender and sexuality. She was bullied at school and by kids in the neighborhood. As a teenager, she

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

as gay, and eventually found acceptance from her peers and parents. Willis attended college at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

, where she encountered more harassment for being

gender non-conforming Gender nonconformity or gender variance is gender expression by an individual whose behavior, mannerisms, and/or appearance does not match masculine or feminine gender norms. A person can be gender-nonconforming regardless of their gender identi ...

. She came to realize that she was a

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

, and decided to transition. She worked with other students to counter discrimination based on

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

. Willis graduated in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

Activism and career

Following graduation from UGA, Willis moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and began getting involved in activism with fellow

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

and gender non-conforming

people of color The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...

. She later came to live in Oakland and work as a communications associate, then national organizer, for the Transgender Law Center. Willis was one of the speakers at the

2017 Women's March The Women's March was an American protest on January 21, 2017, the day after the first inauguration of Donald Trump as the president of the United States. It was prompted by Trump's policy positions and rhetoric, which were and are seen as mi ...

in Washington, D.C. She later stated that though she was glad to be there, she felt that trans women were an "afterthought in the initial planning", and she was cut off by organizers when she tried to say this at the demonstration itself. Willis has spoken out strongly on behalf of trans women. For example, she has criticized comments by

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born Grace Ngozi Adichie; 15 September 1977) is a Nigerians, Nigerian writer of novels, short stories, poem, and children's books; she is also a book reviewer and literary critic. Her most famous works include ''Purple ...

, when Adichie differentiated transgender women from

cisgender The word ''cisgender'' (often shortened to ''cis''; sometimes ''cissexual'') describes a person whose gender identity corresponds to their sex assigned at birth, i.e., someone who is not ''transgender''. The prefix '' cis-'' is Latin and ...

women. Willis called for a boycott of ''

The Breakfast Club ''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American independent teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. The ensemble cast includes Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ring ...

'' radio show after comedian

Lil Duval Roland Powell (born June 12, 1977), better known by his stage name Lil Duval, is an American stand-up comedian, musician, and actor. In 2005, he was a finalist on BET's comedy competition series ''Coming to the Stage''. Powell is a series regul ...

's appearance on the show, during which he joked about killing trans women after discussing the show's previous interviewee, writer

Janet Mock Janet Mock (born March 10, 1983) is an American writer, television producer, and transgender rights activist. Her debut book, the memoir '' Redefining Realness'', became a ''New York Times'' bestseller. She is a contributing editor for ''Marie ...

, a transgender woman. In December 2018, Willis was appointed as executive editor of ''Out'' magazine, becoming the first trans woman to lead the publication. Willis, along with Neal Broverman, endorsed

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren (née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States senator from the state of Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A mem ...

in the

2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention to determine the party's nominee for president in the 2020 election. The primaries and caucuses took p ...

. Later that year in June 2020, Willis was announced as the new Director of Communications for the Ms. Foundation for Women. She held that role until January 2021. Willis co-founded the collective

Gender Liberation Movement Raquel Willis (born 1990/1991) is an African American writer, editor, and transgender rights activist. She is a former national organizer for the Transgender Law Center and the former executive editor of ''Out'' magazine. Her memoir, ''The Risk ...

(GLM) in early 2023. GLM organized the Gender Liberation March in Washington D.C. in support of

reproductive The reproductive system of an organism, also known as the genital system, is the biological system made up of all the anatomical organs involved in sexual reproduction. Many non-living substances such as fluids, hormones, and pheromones are al ...

and

amidst anti-LGBTQ legislation and the recent overturning of the constitutional right to have an abortion afforded by ''

Roe v. Wade ''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protected the right to have an ...

''. During the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, Willis attended an anti-war protest and told ''AP'' in 2024 that "everyone is thinking about the genocide that is happening in Gaza and Palestine". In 2024, Willis was a grand marshal for the

NYC Pride March The NYC Pride March is an annual event celebrating the LGBT culture in New York City, LGBTQ community in New York City#Sexual orientation and gender identity, New York City. The largest pride parade and the List of largest LGBT events, larges ...

. Willis and other GLM activists, among others, stood outside the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

during the

oral arguments Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also ...

for '' United States v. Skrmetti'', focused on

gender-affirming care Transgender health care includes the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental health conditions which affect transgender individuals.Gorton N, Grubb HM (2014). General, Sexual, and Reproductive health. In L. Erickson-Schroth. ...

for minors under 18 years old. Later that week, she was one of 15 activists arrested at a bathroom

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

at the U.S. Capitol that protested the anti-transgender bathroom bill in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

Writing

Willis' writings have appeared in publications including ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', ''

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...

'', and ''

Autostraddle Autostraddle is a queer and trans-owned online magazine and social network for lesbian, bisexual, and queer women ( cis and trans), as well as non-binary people and trans people of all genders. The website is a "politically progressive queer fem ...

''. She also hosted ''The BGD Podcast with Raquel Willis.'' Willis' memoir, ''The Risk It Takes To Bloom'', was published in November 2023 by St. Martin's.

Work

* 2017 – Sojourner Truth Transformational Leadership Fellow * 2018 – Jack Jones Literary Arts Sylvia Rivera Fellow * 2018 – Open Society Foundations Soros Equality Fellow * 2019 – The Trans Obituaries Project

Awards and recognition

* 2017 –

Essence Essence () has various meanings and uses for different thinkers and in different contexts. It is used in philosophy and theology as a designation for the property (philosophy), property or set of properties or attributes that make an entity the ...

Woke 100 Women * 2017 –

The Root "The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, '' Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...

100 Most Influential African Americans * 2018 – San Francisco Transgender Day of Visibility Emerging Leader Award * 2018 –

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

200 awardee * 2020 –

for Outstanding Magazine Article *2021 —

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

Queer 50 *2025 —

TIME Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

Woman of the Year *2025 —

TIME 100 ''Time'' 100 is a list of the top 100 most influential people, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, politicians, and journalists, the list is now a highly ...

Most Influential People of 2025

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Raquel 1990s births 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers African-American women writers African-American writers BuzzFeed people Flag designers HuffPost writers and columnists African-American LGBTQ people LGBTQ people from California LGBTQ people from Georgia (U.S. state) Living people American transgender women Transgender rights activists University of Georgia alumni Writers from Augusta, Georgia Writers from Oakland, California American women non-fiction writers American women columnists