In 1952 Virginia Prince, a male-to-female transvestite, along with other transgender cross dressing people launched Transvestia: The Journal of the American society for Equality in Dress. This publication was the beginning of the transgender rights movement in the United States. In 1969, transgender and transsexual people played an integral part in the Stonewall Riots, including Sylvia Rae Rivera, a transsexual who was an instigator in the uprising. Rivera continued to be an advocate for transgender rights until her death in 2002. After Stonewall, awareness of transexuality grew considerably. Support groups for male cross-dressers were common in the 1970s and 80s. In the 1980s female to male (FTM) transsexuality became common.
Transsexual people are frequently the victims of hate crimes. On December 31, 1993, a female to male transsexual Brandon Teena was murdered in Nebraska along with two of his friends. This murder was documented in the 2000 movie Boys Don't Cry starring Hilary Swank as Brandon Teena. In 2005, the movie Transamerica told the story of a male to female transsexual preparing for sexual reassignment surgery and traveling across the United States with her bisexual son. The Transgender Day of Remembrance to commemorate those who lost their lives due to their gender identity was first held in 1999 following the murder of Rita Hester in 1998. The "Remembering our Dead" web project was also set up in 1999.
Transfeminism is a form of transgender activism, which involves challenging dominant feminist narratives which typically only describe the experiences of cisgender women. Julia Serano is a notable transgender feminist.