Leslie Feinberg, the activist and author of Stone Butch Blues, has passed away after a decades-long battle with tick-borne infections. Hir amazing final words were “Remember me as a revolutionary communist.”
As an activist, Feinberg—who preferred to be addressed by zie/hir pronouns—had a storied career in which zie fought for worker’s rights, transgender rights, lesbian rights, women’s rights, racial equality and more. Feinberg served as an organizer of several labor, anti-war, anti-racism and pro-choice protests. Zie worked as a journalist at the Workers World newspaper and hir most popular book Stone Butch Blues is widely considered a pioneer work in gender studies.
From hir obituary in The Advocate:
In a statement at the end of her life, she said she had “never been in search of a common umbrella identity, or even an umbrella term, that brings together people of oppressed sexes, gender expressions, and sexualities” and added that she believed in the right of self-determination of oppressed individuals, communities, groups, and nations.
(While Feinberg had stated that zie preferred to be addressed as “zie/hir,” the obituary uses female pronouns and was composed by hir longterm partner Minnie Bruce Pratt with Feinberg’s assistance.)
No longer in touch with hir birth family, Feinberg is survived by hir wife, “an extended family of choice, as well as many friends, activists, and comrades around the world in struggle against oppression and for liberation.”
Read Leslie Feinberg’s entire obituary here.
Image via Transgender Warrior.