Anandrea Molina

When Anandrea Molina entered the U.S. as an undocumented trans woman in 2001, she had no idea she would go on to lead Organización Latina Trans in Texas. Since 2015, OLTT has empowered trans Latinx people in Texas, offering shelter for trans-LGBTQIA+ migrants, name change and gender marker programs, support for survivors of sexual assault and human trafficking, immigration legal services for undocumented LGBTQ+ migrants, and more. Molina—herself a survivor of abuse, addiction, and homelessness—turned her lived experience into action. “It all stemmed from the discrimination and stigma against us, Latina trans migrants. It was a moment when you decide to say ‘enough’ to so much prejudice and discrimination—even from within our own LGBT collective,” she tells GO, referring to a pivotal incident when four trans women were excluded from a queer event in Houston. “For us Latinas, nothing is easy and even less so when we are migrants. We do not migrate alone. We migrate carrying everything that forced us to flee our countries. Our culture travels on our backs, loaded with all the suffering and stereotypes about who we are and who we are supposed to be: biological men or women. So how do you build yourself up to be real?” Promoting trans joy is one way. The organization celebrates Día de los Muertos, a Christmas posada, the Ms. and Mr. OLTT pageants, and last year’s “retro quinceañeras” for Latina trans women in their 50s who had long dreamed of participating in the traditional coming-of-age celebration. –MH