US Labor Leader and LGBT Rights Supporter Dolores Huerta Dies at 96
American labor leader Dolores Huerta, a co-founder of the United Farm Workers (UFW) union and a supporter of LGBT equality, died at her home in Bakersfield, California, on October 28, 2026. She was 96. Her foundation announced that she died surrounded by loved ones.
A family spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that the cause of death was cancer. Relatives asked for privacy and said they would announce plans for memorial events later.
As LGBTQ Nation recalls, Huerta connected her support for LGBT rights with her work on behalf of workers and immigrants. In a May 2012 opinion piece for HuffPost, she backed same-sex marriage and wrote that these movements sought similar protections: rights at work, economic security and equal access to opportunities. In June 2013, she appeared in a video for Familia es Familia, a campaign aimed at Latino communities. She urged viewers to accept gay and lesbian family members and support same-sex couples’ right to marry.
Huerta was born on April 10, 1930, in New Mexico and grew up in California. She began as a schoolteacher before turning to community and labor organizing. In 1962, she joined labor organizer César Chávez and others in the movement to establish the National Farm Workers Association, which later became part of the UFW.
At the union, Huerta negotiated with employers, organized strikes and boycotts of California grapes, and pushed for legislative changes. Reuters notes that contracts negotiated by the UFW provided healthcare, pension plans, guaranteed breaks, drinking water and protection from pesticides. Huerta also helped promote California’s 1975 law recognizing farmworkers’ rights to form unions and bargain collectively.
On May 29, 2012, US President Barack Obama awarded Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor. She is associated with the union slogan “¡Sí, se puede!”, commonly rendered as “Yes, we can!” Obama used its English version in his 2008 presidential campaign.
In March 2026, Huerta publicly said she had experienced sexual violence at the hands of Chávez in the 1960s. Chávez died in 1993. She said she had remained silent for decades because she feared harming the farmworkers’ movement. Her foundation’s obituary also recounts her statement, which Reuters and ABC News describe as well.
The foundation Huerta established trains community organizers and works on education, living conditions for low-income families and LGBT rights. In an October 28 statement, Jeffery Freitas, president of the California education workers’ union CFT, highlighted her support for immigrants, LGBT communities and working families.
