Jaci Adams memorial collection

Jaci Adams, often known as Miss Jaci, was a transgender Philadelphia-based activist who was most well-known for advocacy of trans and HIV/AIDS issues. Born in Beckley, West Virginia, her family moved to Philadelphia when she was young. After her parent's divorce, conditions in the house worsened and she ended up leaving an abusive household at the age of nine to live on the streets, where she became entangled with drug abuse, crime, and sex work. She was sent to jail, where she earned a GED. Diagnosed with AIDS in 1983, Miss Jaci did volunteer HIV outreach work by passing out condoms. Adams decided to go into activism in the aftermath of Nizah Morris' death. Nizah Morris was a transgender woman who passed in 2002 from traumatic head injury complications, later declared a homicide. There was significant controversy in the LGBT community about how the Philadelphia Police Department had handled her case, including allegations of cover-ups or police involvement in Morris' death, with suspicions that her case had been mishandled because she was an African American transgender woman.

In a 2013 interview with the Philadelphia Gay News Adams said "I had an 'aha' moment and decided that instead of being angry, maybe a career criminal like me could use that familiarity with the cops to slither in and become part of the solution." Adams sat on the planning committee for the Morris Home and the Philadelphia Trans-health Conference, was a founding member of Temple University's Community Advisory Board, and was the longest-serving member of the Philadelphia Police LGBT Liaison Committee. She was instrumental in transforming the way that the Philadelphia Police Department interacted with the LGBT community, and in establishing similar respectful citywide policies. Miss Adams was an active volunteer as well, spreading her energy to organizations like Philadelphia FIGHT, the AIDS Law Project, the LGBT Elder Initiative, and the Mazzoni Center. She passed February 15, 2014, at the age of 56 due to complications from cancer.

(Source: PGN Staff, "Jaci Adams: From the Unsteady Streets to the Strength of Bridges", April 25, 2013. Philadelphia Gay News. http://www.epgn.com/arts-and-culture/portraits/5850-22345579-jaci-adams-from-the-unsteady-streets-to-the-strength-of-bridges)