Judy Bowenwiener

Judy Bowenwiener (born September 3, 1944), also known as Judy Bowen, is an American transgender rights activist. She was active in the LGBTQ scene in Greenwich Village and marched with the Gay Activists Alliance in the Christopher Street Liberation Day March.

After her arrest at the Long Island gay club, she was bailed out by the people she was living with, who subsequently kicked her out. This left her with no place to live in until she met Philip Brea, who allowed her to stay at his apartment while he was away.

Bowenwiener had a small career as an actor in the 90s: She acted in the 1993 TV Show “You Wrote it, You Watch it”, in the fifth episode of season one. She also appeared as herself in a waitress role in the short film “Café”(1990), and in the adult video “New York’s Finest” (1998), also as a waitress.

She initially worked in clubs owned by the mafia, one of which was the Tango palace in New York City, but at the advice of a friend who was an attorney, sought other business opportunities. During this time, she met with influential LGBTQ figures including Andy Warhol, Candy Darling, Sylvia Rivera, and Marsha P. Johnson.

In 1970, she founded and presided over Transvestites and Transsexuals (TAT), in New York City, but the group only lasted a few months. Bowenwiener had different political opinion from transvestites (mostly drag queens) whom she considered too radical in their want for gay liberation. She claimed that transsexual individuals wanted to be accepted as their chosen gender by society more than they wanted gay liberation. In 1971, she created the group Transsexuals Anonymous, which was dedicated to trans individuals. The first meeting of Transexuals Anonymous was held in the office of the plastic surgeon Benito Rish, and was attended by about twenty people, most of whom were male to female individuals.

During a police raid at a Long Island gay club, multiple people were arrested, including Bowenwiener. The violent arrest left her bruised up for three months. This event, amongst many, is what pushed her to get more involved in trans rights activism.

In 1999, after she moved to Las Vegas, she became an active member of the LGBTQ+ Center of Southern Nevada and pushed for the creation of the Safety Dorm for unhoused transgender people at The Salvation Army. She is a part of Trans United, an international group that works to increase communication among transgender individuals and organizations.

She was a recipient of the Las Vegas 2023 Trans Icon Award, the 2024 Miss International Queen USA Guiding Light Award.