Obituary
River City Gender Alliance Leader
The transgender community at large does not know what it has lost with the untimley death of Gloria Fredericks. I only knew Gloria briefly, but it was obvious to myself and others that she was a person dedicated to the betterment of the transgender community.
Gloria was the only transgender person to actually see and speak with a U.S. Senator during the National Transgender Lobby Days last October. During that meeting, she impressed the Senator so much that he left a Russian delegation waiting 10 minutes in his outer office while he discussed transgender issues with Gloria.
After that experience, Gloria became a one-woman transgender political action committee. She developed the idea of selling "shark's teeth" buttons to raise money for ICTLEP, which she did during the 1995 Fall Harvest weekend in St. Louis. She also collected email addresses from the Fall Harvest participants so we could all stay in touch with one another.
Many of the transgender leaders involved in creating the GenderPAC were very impressed with Gloria's energy and dedication to transgender activism. So much so that Gloria was considered for an "evangelist" role with GenderPAC to help educate the middle American transgender community about the need to become politically active.
The Gloria Fredericks I knew so briefly was a wonderful person with a terrific outlook on life. Her star was rising on the national transgender scene and it saddens me deeply to see it extinguished so suddenly.
The groups that make up MAGGIE (Mid-America Gender Group Information Exchance) have lost two bright lights in the past three months, Jennifer Richards and Gloria. My sympathies and my condolences go out to all the MAGGIE members. Your loss is our loss.