The Hometown Hero knows what it's like to struggle. Now she's doing what she can to help others.
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Hometown Hero Liaam Winslet of Colectivo Intercultural Transgrediendo
Photo: Copyright © 2023 - Photographer Enrique Granados. All rights reserved
Since the 1960’s, Jackson Heights in the borough of Queens has been a destination for immigrants to New York City from around the world. Michael Kimmelman in The New York Times called it “the most culturally diverse neighborhood in New York, if not on the planet.”
One of the largest foreign-born populations is from Latin America and includes Hometown Hero Liaam Winslet, who was granted asylum in the U.S. after being persecuted in her native Ecuador for being trans.
“It’s a violent situation there,” says Winslet, 35. “And then a dangerous situation for me because of my status. I needed to move from my country.”
Winslet earned her asylum in 2013, “and then I continued my transition here in the U.S. I lived in New York, and then in Queens and continue to fight for the rights of my community and to support my sisters and my brothers.”
That work carries on the legacy of Lorena Borjas, the acknowledged Trans Mother of the transgender community in the neighborhood, a magnet for women like Winslet who sought out Borjas’ support.
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