Lorena Borjas

#LorenaBorjas (May 29, 1960 – March 30, 2020): A #Transgender, #Latinx, and #Immigrant activist, #LorenaBorjas was born in #MexicoCity and came to the United States in 1981 with the goal of transitioning to become who she knew to be inside. Life was hard for her, as for many transgender women at the time, and she supported some 20 transgender women she lived with in her #JacksonHeights apartment who worked as sex workers, one of the few means of support for the community at the time. In the 1990s she worked tirelessly to protect transgender victims of human trafficking, slavery, and violence. She gave such women with financial support and shelter, connected them with social services, and facilitated AIDS testing all out her apartment (she was HIV positive herself). In her words, “”We were women without families and who had run away from our countries, persecuted for expressing our identity, for being ourselves. Here in New York, we did not have the life and freedom we had been dreaming about. We also endured violence and abuse here. In those days, it was a real crime to be a transgender immigrant of color.” She worked with others to create a bail fund in her name for LGBTQIA defendants, and in the beginnings of the #CoronavirusEpidemic started a GoFundMe page to support transgender people impacted by financial hardship whilst in quarantine. She herself succumbed to the disease, and on March 30th passed away from the virus. Her passing was marked by deep sorrow in the community, as well as praise for her accomplishments by lawmakers. Plans are currently in the works to name the street she lived on in Queens after her. #PrideMonth #LGBTQIA #LGBTQIAPride #Pride #LegendsOfPride #YouCannotEraseUs