Lorena’s 'Alcance'

Latino USA

My Cultura, Futuro and iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2023

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When pioneering trans activist Lorena Borjas first arrived in the U.S. in late May of 1981, she found both community and an epidemic. Through her experiences on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, NY, Lorena developed a personal approach to connect trans Latinas and trans sex workers to critical medical and legal resources. Decades later, it would be another massive health crisis—COVID-19—that would take the life of this beloved community leader, putting into stark relief her vast legacy. Now, her closest friends paint an intergenerational portrait of Lorena, as a trailblazer, a mentor, and a mother.

This award-winning episode originally aired in May 2021.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hola, mi querido listener.
0:09.2	Here's an award-winning episode from our Archivos.
0:12.4	It's called Lorena's Alcanse.
0:14.7	Lorena's phone was always on and she was the one that would go to get you out of Jaila.
0:21.2	This woman is always very good at everything.
0:24.3	Keeping me safe.
0:25.5	She became like a mother.
0:27.3	Her ability to help people escape trafficking situations, abusive situations, unsafe situations
0:32.8	with the police, I've never seen anyone like that before.
0:35.8	And I doubt I will ever see anyone again.
0:37.6	Puerto Rafa, Barcelona, señora Lorena, Veritas.
0:40.2	Lorena, Lorena, Lorena, Lorena, Lorena.
0:51.2	From Futuro Media and VRX, it's Latino USA.
0:54.2	I'm Maria Inujosa.
0:55.8	Today, three years after her passing, we remember the life and explore the legacy of Lorena
1:02.4	Borjas.
1:03.4	She's known as the mother of the trans Latina community in Queens, New York.
1:09.8	Originally from a small town in the coastal state of Veracruz, Mexico, Lorena arrived
1:18.6	in the United States in May of 1981, just a few days before her 21st birthday.
1:25.6	Less than a month later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first
1:31.1	recorded case of a new and lethal virus spreading in the United States.
1:37.0	Which shows that the lifestyle of some male homosexuals has triggered an epidemic of a rare
	...

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