Queens honors trailblazing transgender activist who died of COVID-19
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Lorena Borjas, right, with State Sen. Jessica Ramos, received an award from the New York State Senate, in 2019, left. Photo via NY State Senate
By Victoria Merlino
Lorena Borjas, a trailblazing activist known as the "Mother of the Trans Latinx community" in Queens, died on Monday after testing positive for COVID-19.
Borjas became educator and an activist for the transgender, sex worker and immigrant communities in Queens after moving to the United States from Mexico in 1981, according to an interview with Queens Public Television.
She ran HIV-testing programs for transgender sex workers, opened her own legal fund to assist Latinx LGBTQ community members, and served as a counselor for the Community Healthcare Network’s Transgender Family Program in Queens.
She has been recognized numerous times for her work, including by former Mayor David Dinkins, New York Attorney General Leitia James and Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. In 2017, Gov. Andrew Cuomo pardoned Borjas of a 1994 criminal facilitation arrest made while she was a victim of human-trafficking, in order to help Borjas obtain citizenship.
Borjas was honored in 2019 as a New York Woman of Distinction in the State Senate.
Community leaders from across Queens expressed their sorrow over Borjas’ death, including prominent local transgender activists Cecilia Gentili and Bianey Garcia, Councilmembers Daniel Dromm, Costa Constantinides and Jimmy Van Bramer, Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Assemblymember Catalina Cruz.
“We lost my friend, Latina transfeminist #LorenaBorjas to the battle against COVID-19. She did an incredible job in our community for trans women and sex workers. May she rest in peace and power,” State Sen. Jessica Ramos tweeted.
“This morning our community lost an inspiring leader and champion for TGNCIQ+ communities, Lorena Borjas. Lorena spent her entire life fighting for the rights of the transgender community, to demand that we all be treated with respect and dignity. Rest In Power Lorena Borjas,” tweeted Make the Road New York, an immigrant rights advocacy organization.
“On the eve of #TDOV, our city mourns the loss and celebrates the life of Lorena Borjas, a Queens-based activist and leader. We thank her for her monumental work for trans and immigrant New Yorkers and we know that her legacy and leadership will live on,” the city’s Department of Immigrant Affairs tweeted.
