Lorena Borjas May 29, β March 30, was a Mexican-American transgender and immigrant rights activist, known as the mother of the transgender Latinx community in Queens, New York. In , Borjas was born in Veracruz , Mexico. When she was seventeen years old, she ran away from home and lived on the streets of Mexico City. In , Borjas emigrated to the United States at twenty years old, with the goal of obtaining hormone therapy and transitioning to live as a woman.
Initially, she primarily provided aid to Mexican transgender women, but she later expanded to help all Latin American trans women. 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. In , Borjas became a U. Borjas experienced many challenges in the s. She became addicted to crack cocaine. As a result, she began to engage in riskier sex work.
She ultimately found herself in a relationship in which she was a victim of sex trafficking. She was arrested many times during this period, which made her ineligible for green card renewal or naturalization. In the late s, she escaped from the abusive relationship and overcame her drug addiction. In , Borjas decided to make activism her life's work. A job? She was there. Lorena was that person who, if you got arrested, you called her at three in the morning and she would answer.
First thing in the morning she would be in court with a lawyer to get you out of jail. Borjas became involved in local nonprofit organizations as well. She first came the Sylvia Rivera Law Project as a client. She eventually began working for the project on immigration and criminal justice issues.
During the coronavirus pandemic , Borjas created and promoted a mutual aid fund, via GoFundMe , to help transgender people who were impacted by the economic crisis. Borjas was not paid for the majority of her activism. She supported herself through a variety of jobs, including counseling sessions, community outreach, occasional talks, and cleaning houses.
