Amber Richards

Amber Marie Williams (November 17, 1957 – May 12, 1996), better known by the stage name Amber Richards, was an American transgender female impersonator, performer, and television personality. Richards was active in drag pageantry beginning in the late 1970s, competing in local and national pageants including Miss Gay America, Miss Continental, Miss Florida Female Impersonator, Miss Gay USofA, and Miss National. She won the Miss Florida FI pageant in 1985 and Miss Continental USA in 1991. Richards appeared on daytime talk shows in the early 1990s and helped introduce an American audience to issues of gender identity, sexuality, and transgender rights at a time when members of the LGBTQ community were parodied and ridiculed.