Lorena Borjas, activist
Lorena Borjas ‑ a Mexican-American transgender and immigrant rights activist, known as the mother of the transgender Latinx community in Queens, New York – died of Covid-19 on March 30, 2020.
Her work on behalf of immigrant and transgender communities garnered recognition throughout New York City and the United States. She lived for many years in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, where she was a community figure and leader.
In 1960, 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. She later studied public accounting in Mexico City.
In 1981, Borjas emigrated to the United States at twenty years old, with the goal of obtaining hormone therapy and ...
