Diana Hemingway (1970-December 20, 2016) was an activist for "trans/queer issues, sex worker rights, disability rights, economic justice, racism, and issues impacting the kink community."
Biography.
Hemingway's family were Irish Gypsies working the carnival circuit, traveling around the US, eventually settling in Fort Lauderdale. She went to college to study photography after having worked for Greenpeace. She also worked briefly as an auto tech and code enforcer.
After a period of self discovery, Hemingway identified as a "genderqueer transfeminine person" and that alienated many. She began working for various non-profits, promoting AIDS and HIV testing for trans and nonbinary people, and worked to improve inclusiveness in the LGBT community for people of color and the disabled. She met her partner, Landon Woolston, while performing a home HIV test.
After losing her position with a non-profit, Hemingway started working as a dominatrix and ultimately an escort. She was raped twice and saw her mental health spiral. Woolston later claimed Hemingway had undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder and felt she was becoming a burden to people around her. Facing homelessness, Hemingway committed suicide. Her final note to Woolston was signed, “Yours forever, in love that never dies.”
Activism.
Hemingway founded the first South Florida chapter of SWOP.
In 2014, Hemingway criticized an op-ed by New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof on the website Backpage, claiming that "Kristof has been attacking Backpage.com for years. What he wants is to play God with the lives of hundreds of thousands of sex workers, while holding himself out as a hero/advocate for underage victims of trafficking.” The same Daily Dot article claimed that Kristof's reporting was biased and inaccurate. Backpage would ultimately be seized by the FBI in 2018.
Awards and honors.
She was part of the first group of honorees on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor.