Raquel Willis

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. In 2020, Willis won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Magazine Article. Her memoir, The Risk It Takes To Bloom, was published in November 2023.

Early life and education
Willis was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia. She grew up in a Catholic family that encouraged volunteerism, stewardship, 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 as gay, and eventually found acceptance from her peers and parents.

Willis attended college at the University of Georgia, where she encountered more harassment for being gender non-conforming. She came to realize that she was a trans woman, and decided to transition. She worked with other students to counter discrimination based on gender identity. Willis graduated in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

Activism and career
Following graduation from UGA, Willis moved to Atlanta and began getting involved in activism with fellow transgender and gender non-conforming people of color. 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 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, when Adichie differentiated transgender women from cisgender women, and Willis called for a boycott of The Breakfast Club radio show after comedian Lil Duval joked about killing trans women during an interview.

Willis designed the Black Trans Flag, a variation on the Transgender Pride Flag with a black instead of white stripe across the middle.

Willis' writings have appeared in publications including The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, and Autostraddle. She also hosted The BGD Podcast with Raquel Willis.

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 in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. 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' 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 Woke 100 Women
 * 2017 – The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans
 * 2018 – San Francisco Transgender Day of Visibility Emerging Leader Award
 * 2018 – Frederick Douglass 200 awardee
 * 2020 – GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Magazine Article
 * 2021 — Fast Company Queer 50