When I picked up my IFGE Trinity award back in 2006 in Philadelphia, after the ceremony I was taken by Dionne Stallworth and Jordana LeSesne who was living there at the time to get my celebratory cheesesteak and meet some of the local activists.One of the people I met that day was Jaci Adams, who in the Philly area is one of their amazing and beloved activists.
She is a founding member of the Temple University Community Advisory Board, served on the planning committee for the Philadelphia Trans Health Conference, and the Morris County Planning Committee, a long term volunteer with the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, a member of the Philly Police Department LGBT Liaison Committee Team and was a founder of the 2004 People With Hope Trans Conference.
Adams was also honored at OutFest last year with the first annual Jaci Adams OutProud Transgender Award
She also made the POZ 100 List, an annual compilation of the 100 HIV-positive unsung heroes and sheroes from around the country who are committed to ending the epidemic.
Jaci is battling Stage IV cancer as I write this, and she is fighting it with every fiber of her being. Ever the activist, she recently sold AIDS :Law Project raffle tickets to her chemotherapy team.
I'm hearing the news from my Philadelphia sources that Jaci is in a hospice right now and even though she been doing everything possible to beat it, she will need the added assistance of your warm thoughts and prayers.
If you live in the Philly metro area, may be a good idea if you have time in your busy schedules to swing by Keystone Hospice and see this valiant trans human rights warrior as well.
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