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Raquel Willis

@raquel_willis

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TIME Woman of the Year + TIME 100 • co-founder, @genderlib • author, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐊 𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐌 • host, @afterlives.pod
↓ paperback out now

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I’m both excited and heavy-hearted to share the paperback cover of my memoir, The Risk It Takes to Bloom. It’s also available for pre-order via dat link. June 9th is the date.

To be honest, it feels dissonant to wish anyone a happy Trans Day of Visibility. I hope it’s become clear that visibility will not save any of us on the margins. Being seen, even elevated can feel powerful, but having your humanity understood and respected is something else altogether.

Just as when I released the hardcover in November 2023, we are in uncertain and grisly times. Then, it felt off to be promoting a book about my life while a genocide was emerging against Palestinian people. I speak in more detail about that dynamic in the new foreword. And I’m honored that @mosab_abutoha allowed me to include one of his poems.

While the U.S. continues to devastate people around the world, I’m holding the campaign of erasure that countries are waging on trans and nonbinary people. From India to the U.K. to the U.S. From stripping healthcare to demonizing athletes and young people to stripping folks of their identification documents, it can feel impossible to see past all the fires everywhere.

I hope Bloom has, and will continue to, help people hold the nuances of life. The hard things and the things that give us hope. The unique and the universal. The harm and the healing. Visibility and vitality. And I hope it leaves more space for the next Black trans person who finds themselves in this world to be their truest, most deserving self. Because liberation isn’t a far-off destination we’ll reach, or something handed to us for a job well done. It’s something we must demand and snatch for ourselves, every day of our lives.

📸: the dearest soul, @colewitter

#transdayofvisibility #TDOV #TWOVA by @raquel_willis

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4 months ago

#RaquelWillis knows how to make an impact. The writer, activist, and speaker has made a career off of pushing for change in everything from our government to media institutions and society at large. Now, after making history for her activism, she is making history for being herself—Willis was just honored as one of Time’s Women of the Year for 2025.

The accolade comes after a huge year for the multi-hyphenate. Despite being at the forefront of the fight for Trans rights and women’s rights for years, in 2023 she co-founded the Gender Liberation Movement (@genderlib), an organization focused on increasing public awareness that the fight for gender-affirming care and reproductive rights is really one and the same struggle for bodily autonomy.

This important work brought her to L.A. on February 25th for the Time Women of the Year Gala—in which she received honorifics alongside the likes of #NicoleKidman—something she says holds “tremendous weight” while also being an “honor.”

At the link in bio, Willis takes us through her big night at the #TimeWomenOfTheYear gala and walks us through the entire process of getting ready. Also, speaking on what the accolade means to her.

[🖋️: @generationzizi]
[📸: @analoguepapi] by @raquel_willis

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a year ago

It’s the finale of #DNC2024, but we’re looking forward.

We refuse to let Project 2025 rule our lives. With all of these bans on abortion, gender-affirming care, and books, it’s beyond time to make our voices heard.

Let’s fight for our bodies, our choices, and our future!

Join us for Gender Liberation March on September 14 in Washington, DC, to demand reproductive justice, gender-affirming care, and #genderliberation for all.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT ➡️ GENDERLIB.COM

SHARE WIDELY. 💥 taken in Washington, DC by @raquel_willis

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2 years ago

I got to be part of Aesop’s Queer Library’s inaugural San Francisco event, celebrating the paperback release of The Risk It Takes to Bloom in a city that shaped the book itself. There’s a whole section dedicated to my time in the Bay Area, so being back there with community, in that context, hit different.

Thank you, @aesop, for the space and for making the work of queer and trans storytellers accessible. #TheAesopQueerLibrary by @raquel_willis

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Honoring the power of my fam as a “binary” girl with a non-binary politic. We are all gender non-conforming in some way, failing at living up to the ideals of manhood, womanhood, masculinity, and femininity. Embrace being a failure. Embrace gender liberation. by @raquel_willis

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11 days ago

Good riddance, Ofay. by @raquel_willis

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14 days ago

At Aesop Fillmore Street in San Francisco, journalist and activist Raquel Willis described finding community through reading the stories of others, and how this set the foundations for her own memoir, The Risk It Takes to Bloom. #TheAesopQueerLibrary taken in San Francisco, California by @raquel_willis

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17 days ago

Pride never ends. Thank you San Francisco for the honor of being your *gasp* Celebrity Grand Marshal. To come back to the Bay, to feel so much of the live that first helped me feel my power, was everything. We marched, we danced, we ki-ed. 💜

Thank you to the ever fabulous @missmore8 for coming through in a pinch to add the finishing touch to my ensemble and @harmonia_ny for the sequined glamour.

@honeydijon blessed us. It felt like that scene in Sinners. Gospel, House, R&B all collided at once.

We marched, of course. Luh you @transmarch.

@diegooreyezz did the damn thing.

Queen @janettasays is always a vibe.

Icons meeting icons. by @raquel_willis

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17 days ago

Before the idea of human rights,
the queer worlds flourished.

After pride, at the end of the rainbow, return to the source.

Join me and @twentynineprinciples on a multimedia musical journey into the world’s queerest cultures…

And the battle for queer human rights across the planet.

Thank you @alokvmenon
@normajeanstraw
@geenarocero
@bcohen6
@mcabralgrinspan
@ayeshasood
@mphotutu
@honeymahogany
@kaimatamusic
@raquel_willis
@fhoudart
@douglasatkin
@djlordzeus by @raquel_willis

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a month ago

The Jellicles and special guests @cynthiaerivo and @raquel_willis brought the sexy front and center! 💋💋 by @raquel_willis

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a month ago

What does it take to live fully and fight fiercely?
🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈
Join acclaimed authors and activists 2026 Celebrity Grand Marshal Raquel Willis and Michelle MiJung Kim for a powerful conversation on identity, courage, community, and collective liberation. From navigating spaces not built for them to helping reshape the world around them, they'll explore what becomes possible when we stop shrinking and start showing up as our full selves.
🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈
Don't miss "The Risk it Takes to Bloom" at the 4th Annual San Francisco Pride Human Rights Summit! Get your tickets at the link in our bio.

#SFPride2026 #ResistanceInAction #humanrightssummit #raquelwillis #michelleMiJungKim by @raquel_willis

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a month ago

Gather round, Jellicles 😻 We are THRILLED to welcome special guest @raquel_willis for an inspiring post-show conversation tomorrow celebrating Pride and community with our partners @stonewallfoundation and @lgbtcenternyc. Remember you must purchase a ticket to the performance to attend, see you there!!! by @raquel_willis

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